


I Heard You

by she_who_the_river_could_not_hold



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-02-16 23:11:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13064139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/she_who_the_river_could_not_hold/pseuds/she_who_the_river_could_not_hold
Summary: El Hopper feels like she has the worst luck when it comes to her laptop and she’s completely lost track of how many times she has to call the campus tech center for help. The only good part of all of it? The mysterious voice of the guy who always seems to answer the phone. Even though she has no idea who he is or even what his name is, El can’t help herself when she feels herself falling for him. Surely one of these days she’ll get to talk with him for a different reason, but for now, she’s stuck with midnight calls and a laptop with a flashing white screen.





	1. I Heard You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven’t written fan fiction in probably six or so years but I’ve been inspired lately to dust off my writing skills and try to get back into it. This is a modern AU I ended up doing as practice in between working on a much larger AU piece for Stranger Things. Inspired by and tweaked this prompt:
> 
> “There’s an overnight IT person at school who always answers the phone when I call about a problem with my computer and I totally have a crush on their voice and their exasperation and ALSO the bakery down the street is always running out of my fave scones and the adorable person behind the counter can’t hide their amusement and it’s super rude but also super cute.”
> 
>  
> 
> Also lol at thinking this was going to be a quick little oneshot, it completely took a life of it’s own. Enjoy!

Most Saturday nights at Hawkins College, the dorms are empty with students taking a break from the grind of the school year and letting loose for the weekend. However with finals approaching and the winter settling in quickly this year, this Saturday night was a different story. Dorm common areas had turned into study halls and groups of students clumped together furiously looking over notes from the semester and trying to ignore the regret for skipping those couple morning classes. Needless to say, stress levels were high tonight. Especially for one first year student.  

 

El drummed her fingers nervously on her laptop. This was _not_ the time for it to be freaking out again, not when finals were about to be upon her and she had so many deadlines to meet.

 

Her eyes glanced over at the small digital clock on her desk.

 

1:20 AM. 

 

Shit.

 

It was definitely too late to call the tech center on campus. 

 

She knew that the center was open until three in the morning, but she still felt guilty about calling. Yes it was their job, but… this would be her fourth call in a MONTH. There was no way she was going to be able to stomach the embarrassment. She wouldn’t have been surprised if the students who worked there put bets on when she would call next or had some sort of running tally going on her. These theories did absolutely nothing for her nerves. 

 

A couple more minutes of staring at her computer screen and nervously biting her fingernail didn’t lead to anything except for the conclusion that she was royally fucked and probably should call the IT guys. El was pretty positive your screen wasn’t supposed to go all white with a flashing gray question mark on it. 

 

Well, if she did call there was the added benefit of not only fixing her laptop, but also that Mystery Guy could be working tonight.

 

* * *

 

When El had first told Max about the guy who almost always was the one to answer her panicked computer-problem related phone calls, the redhead had burst out laughing.

 

“What?” El asked, stabbing the plate of waffles in front of her frustratedly. She really didn’t see what was funny about how embarrassing it was for the IT guy to recognize your voice on the phone because you had yet another problem that needed fixing.

 

Max had rolled her eyes, casting her signature smirk towards her squirming friend.

 

“El. Come on. I lost track of how many times you mentioned the sound of his voice. Could you be any more in love with him?” she finished her question with a jab of her fork towards El, sending a spray of spaghetti sauce her way.

 

With a blush quickly taking over her face, El mumbled something in her defense and wiped away the speckles of sauce that had reached her plate. It wasn’t her fault the guy had a particularly soft, deep voice that explained things really well. She supposed she had been talking about him since the two girls had first entered the dining hall, all of the way to when they had sat down at their usual table shoved into one of the back corners. But still. She didn’t feel like she could bring herself to acknowledge out loud to Max that she had a crush on a guy purely from his voice alone.

 

Okay, maybe it was sad that she was falling in love with someone just from hearing them describe the inner workings of her laptop.

 

“He’s the first tech person to not make me feel stupid, that’s all,” she finally grumbled back when she had looked up to still see Max’s pointed gaze.

 

Max had snorted and El quickly changed the topic to the football game that weekend to get her best friend to drop the issue. The two of them still in the early phases of their first year of college excitement that lead to them going to almost every event available filled with school spirit. To be fair, they were usually El’s idea and she would tow a groaning Max with her (though El knew Max actually had fun and just didn’t want to acknowledge that she was capable of enjoying a school-sponsored function).

 

* * *

 

That had been two weeks ago and El now found herself curled up in her uncomfortable desk chair staring at her malfunctioning laptop. Her phone lay tauntingly next to it and she knew that if she clicked on the “recents” button, she’d be able to find the tech center’s number quickly.

 

The clock clicked to 1:24 AM. The laptop screen had not magically fixed itself in the four minutes El had been staring it. Instead the only progress that had been made was a slightly chewed nail and a slight cramp in her ankle from where she had been sitting on it.

 

With a sigh, El caved and grabbed her phone. It was practically autopilot at this point and her fingers quickly pulled up the number she had managed to memorize by this point. 

 

Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she waited as the phone rang. After what felt like an agonizingly long period of time where she considered hanging up and just dropping out of school, the other line picked up with a quick air of static and then a clear voice.

 

“Hi, Hawkins College Tech Center, what can I do for you?”

 

El felt her stomach flip and couldn’t fight the grin that grew on her face. It was him.

 

“Um, hi,” she finally squeaked after she realized she hadn’t responded for. an embarrassingly long beat. “It’s uh, El. El Hopper. I have a laptop problem again.”

 

She heard the voice laugh on the other line and she felt herself practically swoon, just like the women in the soap operas she still watched religiously (despite efforts from Max and her dad to get her to stop). There was no way that someone’s laugh should sound that good. Especially over a phone. 

 

“Hey long time no talk, it’s been like a week right?” he asked teasingly and El responded with a groan.

 

“Yeah sorry about that,” she replied, burrowing her head in her arms. She wasn’t sure things could get more embarrassing, having a crush on an IT guy who she didn’t even know or that he recognized her because his only connection to her was her multiple computer issues and general technology incompetence. 

 

“It’s an older MacBook,” she continued, “I swear I didn’t mean for this to become a regular thing.”

 

She could still hear him chuckling and she tried to ignore the butterflies that were fluttering in her stomach. It was so easy to talk to him, contrary to her normal phone call anxiety, and she almost wished they could just chat about normal things. She bet he was an amazing storyteller too, hell maybe he had a podcast.

 

“What’s up this time?” he asked and she could hear him begin typing on his computer.

 

“Uh,” she looked back at the laptop in question. “It’s like a white screen. With a gray folder and a flashing question mark.”

 

He let out a low whistle, “Damn, yeah that’s definitely not good.”

 

_Yeah tell me about it_ , El found herself thinking. This had to be one of her worst nightmares. On the other hand though, her computer may be completely screwed but at least she was getting to watch her grades’ utter destruction with this guy’s perfect voice in her ear. There were worse ways to fail fall semester.

 

He was muttering to himself and she could hear the rapid fire clicking of his hands typing, no doubt hunting up the root of the problem.

 

“Okay,” he finally said, breaking her daydream about them calling each other in between class to schedule a coffee date, “Have you tried re-selecting your startup disk?”

 

El couldn’t help the laugh that burst out of her.

 

“You know I call you for a reason right? I don’t know shit about computers.”

 

“Ah so it isn’t just so you can hear my voice?” he asked and El felt her heart absolutely stop before it registered he was being sarcastic. She hoped he hadn’t heard the sigh of relief she let out. Her secret was safe. He hadn’t magically figured out her crush on him and that she actually did massively enjoy these phone calls, even if it was at the expense of her stress levels and laptop.

 

Choking down her nerves with a cough, she tried to quickly move past it. 

 

“Very funny, but what do I need to do? I have a presentation I really, really need to finish,” she pleaded, trying and possibly failing to keep the panic out of her voice as she imagined Professor Brown’s face on Monday when she failed to present her research. 

 

“Alright, well this is the first thing you can try…”

 

* * *

 

It turned out none of his ideas had worked.

 

They had stayed on the phone for almost 45 minutes before he had given up, his stubbornness refusing to let the issue go. Even while battling a serious case of yawning, El forced herself to focus on the phone call. This was one of their longest ones and if her computer was truly dying, she didn’t want this one to end, with his soothing voice helping her through its final moments.

 

He finally conceded and told her to drop off her laptop in the morning. The tech center opened at 10:00 AM on Sundays and it would probably be easier to look at the issue in person since it might be a hardware problem instead of software.

 

At the suggestion of dropping it off, El felt her mouth go dry and her heart rate increase. There was no way that he would still be working there in the morning but the possibility of running into him alone made her palms sweat and a blush cover her cheeks. 

 

She had agreed that it was the best solution and with that she found herself waking up a bit earlier than normal on Sunday to ride her bike over to the tech center. 

 

While she had briefly considered dressing up, she hadn’t been able to combat the tiredness from a brief night’s sleep and instead had thrown on one of her dad’s old police academy sweatshirts, leggings, and her favorite pair of white converse. With a ruffle of her messy curls, she chided herself for even considering getting dressed up _to drop off her laptop_. For one, he probably wasn’t even going to be there. Second, if he was there and couldn’t handle her at her  ~~laziest~~ comfiest, then maybe it wasn’t worth it just for the voice.

 

The air was crisp that morning and El found herself actually enjoying the ride to the center. Only a few handful of students had emerged that morning and she was able to enjoy the trek in peace. Last leaves slowly dropped to the ground and her bike’s wheels crunched delightfully on the frost as she cut across a quad.

 

Her inner peace was disturbed slightly as parked her bike outside the small brick building. Adjusting her backpack on her shoulders, El quickly tried to dry her palms on her leggings. It was crazy to feel this nervous but she couldn’t help herself. 

 

She pushed the glass door open and stepped in. 

 

Just as she expected, no other students had shown up and instead it was just two of the student workers behind the desk.

 

While El wasn’t positive either of them were _him_ based purely on gut instinct, she was pretty sure she recognized one of the guys from her biology class. They were currently tossing a small paper ball back and forth.

 

“Hello,” she called out, giving a small wave as they turned to look at her. 

 

The one closest to her, a guy with super curly brown hair poking out from under a hat, gave her a huge grin and his eyes crinkled up with it. El couldn’t help but grin in response, the air of positivity from him practically palpable.

 

“Hey! What’s up?”

 

The boy further back rolled his eyes.

 

“He means ‘Welcome to Hawkins College Tech Center, what can we help you with?’” 

 

El pulled out her laptop, “Uh well I was having issues last night with my laptop and was told to bring it in here this morning.”

 

It was at this point that both guys turned and looked at each other, nearly getting whiplash at the speed of their reaction. With what seemed like in an instant, they appeared to have had an entire conversation with their eyes before looking back at El who was watching the interaction nervously.

 

“Oh so you’re El!” exclaimed the curly haired boy. 

 

Mouth dry, El nodded and glanced between the boys.  The darker boy in the back let out a small whoop and smiled at her.

 

“Mike said you’d be coming in this morning,” he told her, explaining how they appeared to know her already.

 

“ _Mike,_ ” El breathed, feeling the name in her mouth and instantly feeling a warmth course through her. Her Mystery Guy finally had a name.

 

Realizing the two were still staring at her, El blushed furiously and placed her laptop on the counter in front of her. This was a sufficiently awkward moment but she couldn’t fight back the giddiness that was growing in her. 

 

“I’m Dustin and this is Lucas,” the guy in the hat said, passing the laptop back to his friend. “Mike’s our best friend but he’s been working the late night shifts for a bit.”

 

Lucas nodded and El was relieved she also wasn’t crazy that she recognized him. 

 

“You’re in Professor Clarke’s 10:40 biology class right?” She asked, her gaze turning to focus on him. He nodded, already firing up her laptop, but then snapped his fingers as he looked back up. 

 

“That’s why you look familiar! Yeah I sit up front, do you sit in the back?”

 

El shrugged sheepishly.

 

“Yeah science isn’t exactly my forte, I’m a lot better at English and my psych classes.”

 

Lucas had begun to refocus on her laptop but he still had a wide smile on his face, and she was pretty sure she heard him say something along the lines of how he would have mentioned it to Mike if he had known. El tried to not think about what that meant too much.

 

“Are you a freshman?” Dustin asked, breaking the silence in the room.

 

“Yep finishing my first semester and was feeling good about it until this,” El replied gesturing to her laptop helplessly. Dustin smiled back at her.

 

“I wouldn’t worry about, between the two of us we’re the masters of this shit. You’ll have it back in no time,” he said comfortingly. “It probably can be fixed today even. We’re sophomores here,” he added on. 

 

Lucas hummed in an agreement from his desk.

 

“Yeah it looks like she needs a new connection to her hard drive. I can see if we have one in the back or just run out and grab one and install it. Couple hours tops.”

 

El let out a huge sign of relief and felt the invisible tension in her shoulders disappear. It sounded like she was actually going to be able to finish her projects in time. Now to just kill time until they were done.

 

“Would it work if I go chill at Benny’s across the street?”

 

Lucas nodded and Dustin gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up. 

 

“Go for it, your number is logged into the system so just keep your sound on and we can give you a call when it’s all set up,” Dustin promised. 

 

Feeling lighter already without the panic of needing a new laptop hanging over her head, El gave the boys a nod before making her way across the street.

 

Benny’s was a small coffeeshop located on campus, run by a local Hawkins resident. It was one of the most popular places on campus to go hang with friends, study, or even on weekends, get a beer flight on the opposite side of the coffee bar. El occasionally would squeeze in on weekdays but generally stuck to the library, so she was excited to finally get a chance to fully enjoy it. 

 

A small bell dinged when she pushed the door open and she ducked in, immediately cloaked by the smell of coffee beans and the hum of the machines. With a deep inhale, El felt any last remnants of her nerves go away. It was hard to be stressed when you were surrounded by coffee. 

 

A group of girls were one of the corners going over flash cards (one of them looked like the back Jennifer Hayes, the sorority girl in her Interpretations of Literature class) but other than that, there was only a couple other students.

 

Making her way to the counter, El smiled up at the owner, Benny himself. He was absolutely massive compared to her petite frame and his name was legendary at Hawkins both for the coffeeshop and his days being on Hawkins’ wrestling team. To this day he was still solidly built and towered over most of the students. However he perfectly fit the idea of the gentle giant, always ready with a kind word for the students with a rub of his bald head or a stroke of his beard.

 

“Good morning,” he greeted El, “What brings you over this morning so early? Finals?”

 

El shook her head, curls bouncing as she did.

 

“Nah, my laptop is dead so I’m going to hang out here for a bit while it’s fixed,” she explained, gazing at the menu behind him.

 

He nodded understandingly. 

 

“Well it’s a good spot to do that, what can I get you kid?”

 

El tapped her foot as she contemplated before finally deciding on getting just regular coffee and then decided to treat herself with the maple cinnamon scone.

 

Benny had barely started punching her order in before shaking his head in disappointment.

 

“Ah sorry kid, I think we’re out of those today.”

 

El’s jaw dropped and the noise of desperation escaped her before she realized it had come out, clapping her hand over her mouth. _Damn_ , she swore to herself, eyes raking over the menu desperately. She really wasn’t sure what else she would want and they were always out of the maple flavored scones whenever she came in the afternoons so she had been convinced that today was finally her chance.

 

As if sensing her conflict and dismay, Benny let out a sign and glanced back at the kitchen.

 

“You know what, let me go see if we can make some quick for you. I’ll get Mike to get on that,” he said.

 

El was so thankful for her second stroke of good luck that day, the name of the person working back in the kitchen completely escaped her. 

 

Thanking him profusely, she pulled out her student ID to charge the order to her snack credits before making her way over to a small table in the back corner. Plopping down, she took a deep gulp of the coffee, letting it burn her throat. Her dad had finally kicked her of her habit of drowning her coffee in sugar and cream, though she now found herself on the complete opposite end of the spectrum and only drinking her coffee black. 

 

She smiled at the memory of seeing her adoptive father’s face when he had first seen her pouring her fourth packet of sugar in her coffee. “Mornings are for coffee and contemplation, not giving yourself a heart attack,” he always said (though he usually said this with a donut in his mouth so she was never too bothered by his criticisms). 

 

After a while of losing herself in her book, she felt someone’s presence in front of her. When she looked up, she felt her heart manage to both stop and also speed up beyond what could be considered healthy.

 

She knew guys could be pretty, but she didn’t know they could be _this_ pretty.

 

The guy standing in her front of her was tall, really tall, and she craned her neck to look up at him from her seat. He had silky black hair that flopped almost delicately around his face and freckles scattered across his face, almost like the stars on her astrology themed calendar. But past all of that, his eyes were such a deep, dark brown that she felt herself falling into them just staring at him.

 

He seemed to be equally taken by her and there was a good couple seconds (eternity maybe, El wasn’t sure), before he cleared his throat and awkwardly shoved a paper bag in front of himself towards her.

 

“Maple cinnamon scone?”

 

El excitedly reached out for the bag but her hand froze when his voice registered with her mind. Eyes shifting to look at his chest, her brain slowly processed the messy scrawl that read out his name on the sticker.

 

Mike.

 

Gulping, her eyes darted back to him. He was Mike. Her Mystery Guy, her computer savior and the voice that occupied her mind more than she’d like to admit. And here he was standing in front of her holding her scone.

 

Realizing her was staring at her with a confused expression on her face and that her hand was still stuck just reaching towards him, El finally pulled herself together.

 

“Hey uh, I’m El, the incompetent laptop girl,” she quickly said. 

 

Mike’s eyes widened and he opened and closed his mouth a couple times before dropping in the seat across from her. The bag with the scone lay forgotten between them.

 

“Wow. It’s weird hearing your voice in person,” he said with a grin and El felt a small grin forming on her face. She was almost dizzy with the way he was looking at her, maybe she hadn’t been the only one enjoying their phone calls.

 

“Ditto,” she replied. “I actually dropped off my laptop over at the tech center before this, I’m just waiting for it to be fixed.” 

 

She cocked her head looking at him as she realized he was wearing a polo with Benny’s logo on it. 

 

“Wait, do you work here too? Even after working so late last night?”

 

Mike shook his head, “Nope I normally just work at the tech center. One of my best friends Will went home for the weekend for his baby brother’s birthday so I volunteered to cover a shift for him,” he explained.

 

The two ended up chatting for a while, eventually splitting the scone that had brought him over to her table. While there had been initial awkwardness as they transitioned from purely just phone call conversations to actually having the ability to talk in person, it quickly went away as they talked and soon Mike’s shift had ended and they fell deeper into conversation. 

 

It was just as easy as El had always imagined. She even felt her shyness melting away and they leaned in excitedly across the table as they swapped stories about their crazy friends. She only let one comment about his voice slip when she mentioned that she could see him having a podcast. To her relief, he mentioned that he had been considering creating one for his Dungeons and Dragons campaign but he wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested in it. She had quickly assured him that she would convince Max to listen too so they’d have at least two listeners (and secretly vowed to look up what the hell Dungeons and Dragons was later).

 

Before she realized that almost two hours had passed, El’s phone buzzed and she saw the tell-tale phone number of the tech center. 

 

“Looks like my laptop is cured,” she said with a soft smile, holding her phone up to Mike.

 

He reached across the table, taking it from her hand. She shivered at his touch, and gazed at him as he answered the call. 

 

“Sup Dustin,” he answered with a grin, never taking his eyes off of El.

 

Even from across the table El could hear the shout of surprise on the other end and stifled her giggles as she could hear the boys no doubt grilling Mike as to how he had El’s phone.

A huge grin had settled on his face and he shrugged. “It’s a long story dude, sometimes things just happen at the right time. Yeah, yeah, we’ll head right over.”

 

After a minute more of shouting on the other end, Mike went ahead and hung up on the guys before handing El her phone back. His ears were tinged pink and he seemed slightly embarrassed but proud.

 

“Yeah so we’re probably not going to hear the end of that.”

 

El giggled and put her book in back into her bag, standing up. 

 

“Well, how about we get my laptop and escape to the library so I can actually finish my finish my presentation now?” She offered him her hand.

 

Her heart fluttered as he smiled back up at her, reaching forward and grasping her hand and pulling himself up.

 

“Only if we can grab a study room and I can take a nap too.”

 

The two made their way out of the coffeeshop, each waving at Benny who waved back with a small twinkle in his eye. El came up to about Mike’s shoulder and the occasionally bumped into each other while walking, giving each other teasing nudges. Falling into an easy rhythm, they crossed the street still talking, completely absurd in their conversation, neither able to get over their new ability to hear each other’s voices in person.

 

Fall semester had been pretty good, but El had a feeling that things were about to just keep getting better. And now she knew exactly what Mike sounded like when he nervously asked to go on a real coffee date. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this not-so-little college AU fluff! Hopefully some of the academic references make sense, I wrote it with my university’s structure (and a bit of layout) in mind but I realize that is of course not universal. I have also had that delightful white screen with the gray question mark, though unlike El I sadly didn’t have a Mike Wheeler there to help me.


	2. Thanks Mouth Breather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wrench in plans over Christmas break means that El and Mike haven’t been able to go on their promised coffee date from finals week in the fall. El is petrified about ruining their blossoming friendship, but with encouragement from Max, she pushes through her nerves to make sure this date can happen. Here’s hoping her bad luck only happens with computers and not with dates, but after all, bad luck is how she got here in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone’s response to “I Heard You” was so sweet that I had to continue the story and see where it goes! I’m excited to further develop my head canons for them as college students and then just absolutely overdosing it with fluff and sweetness.
> 
> Enjoy!

“You know most of us actually just text people.”

 

El Hopper looked up to see her best friend Max Mayfield staring at her with a knowing look, spinning a pencil between her fingers. With a gulp and a quick flush of her checks, El slightly turned her face away.

 

“Hey Mike I have to go now actually, Max is giving me that look of hers again,” she whispered into her cell phone, dodging the thrown pencil with a giggle. 

 

Mike chuckled on the other end, “Sounds about right. I’ll call you after my lab tonight, promise.”

 

“Promise,” echoed El, using their new salutation before hanging up. 

 

Straightening back up, she refocused on her friend who was innocently pretending to work on her homework. Max glanced up, saw the intense stare, and went back to her work with a knowing smirk on her face. El shook her head with a smile and returned to the book in front of her, trying to get her mind to get back into the mindset of analyzing the text. Eventually though, she couldn’t fight the impulse to ask.

 

“Okay okay, what’s wrong with our phone calls?” El finally asked with a huff.

 

Max shrugged, “I’ve just never seen two people so obsessed with talking to each other. You guys just need to hang out with each other! Physically, in person. Like most people.”

 

El bit her lip nervously and remained silent, causing Max to look up at her curiously. 

 

“El, why haven’t you guys hung out in person yet?” Max’s tone was joking but also tinged with concern. “He asked you out on that coffee date ages ago.”

 

The curly haired girl tugged on her lip with her teeth before exclaiming, “I’m just scared it’ll ruin everything! I mean… yeah that first day was so great and we talk on the phone all of the time and it’s not even about my computer. But what if, what if I manage to ruin it? It’s been almost three weeks, since we didn’t get to see each other over Christmas break.”

 

Oh yes, Max knew all too well that they hadn’t seen each other over break. 

 

* * *

 

While meeting up over Christmas break had been the plan since they both lived near the local college, Mike’s parents had suddenly decided that they should spend this holiday season with family. Family which turned out to be two hours north of Hawkins. 

 

The news had caused a lot of dismay for the two, since finals had gotten in the way of going on their date beforehand. Mike had consequently spent the two hours in the car with headphones in and a scowl permanently on his face. El had moped about, refusing to budge from the couch and watching reruns upon reruns of _All My Children_ , her favorite soap opera.

 

Max and El’s adoptive father had observed her from the kitchen.

 

“So this kid is alright?” Jim Hopper asked gruffly, already not sure he was a fan of some sophomore boy who had turned El’s head. He couldn’t figure out how this had happened in the span of only really knowing each other for a week; it seemed like such a short amount of time.

 

“Yeah he’s cool, I mean he’s a massive nerd, but cool enough I guess,” Max had quipped back, resting her head on her hands and watching El with amusement as her forlorn friend sighed dramatically and mouthed the lines from the scenes playing out on the small TV.

 

“Hmph,” was all that Hopper had to say to that.

 

He had vaguely known this Wheeler kid’s mom and dad from growing up here, but after spending a chunk of time in Chicago working and then living there while securing the adoption rights to El, he wasn’t as in tune with what the families of Hawkins had been up to. 

 

It turned out they were making cute nerd babies that grew up into boys who his daughter fell for in an instant. Fantastic.

 

It was on what felt like El’s tenth sigh that he had shoved Max towards her, commanding she take her outside to go do something productive or at least not just sit in the house. Max had been able to convince her to go the ice skating rink that had opened up in town for the winter and the two spent the afternoon racing each other, helping push El out of her funk.

 

It was after the first week of break that the phone calls started.

 

Mike had nervously been the first to initiate, going out on a limb and calling her. Escaping his overbearing aunts hadn’t been easy, but he had eventually slipped away from their million questions and hid himself in one of the guest rooms at his grandma’s house. While at first it had seemed like a great idea to call El, he had panicked on the third ring and almost hung up. But when El answered, he had felt relief rush through him at the sound of her voice and thanked his random spurt of courage he had experienced. 

 

“Hey El! Uh, it’s me, Mike. Michael Wheeler. Hawkins Tech Center,” he rambled nervously. Groaning inwardly, he couldn’t believe how absolutely cringe-worthy he sounded. Gone was the confidence he had felt behind the anonymity from their first late night calls when he still didn’t know who she was. In it’s place? Awkward, nerdy Mike who he thought he had left behind in high school.

 

El let out a soft giggle, curling up on her bed and wrapping her arms around her knees. It was odd to be on the receiving end of a call from him, but the sensation filled her with a giddiness that bubbled up inside her. 

 

“Hey, knew I recognized that voice,” she had teased gently back, burrowing into her pillows. 

 

They had spent the next hour and a half chatting the phone, and it eventually becoming a nightly occurrence – each night always ending with Hopper opening El’s door with a creak and a stern look. He kept his face schooled in a strict look with furrowed brows and pursed lips, but he couldn’t help but admit to himself that if having El locked up in her room for an hour and half made his daughter her normal self during the day, maybe this wasn’t the worst thing. At least she wasn’t constantly texting him and actually used her phone’s call function.

 

Mike would tell her about how lame his family was (“Honestly it makes hanging out with my baby sister Holly seem enjoyable”) and El would catch him up on whatever adventures she and Max had gotten up to that day. 

 

And before they knew it, Christmas break had flown by and they were back at school.

 

* * *

 

Letting out a hum of annoyance, Max poked El’s phone.

 

“You know what, call him back. Schedule the damn coffee date. There’s no way you’re going to be able to analyze any of these poems if you’re too busy daydreaming and I need your help picking one to write about,” she announced, deciding that enough was enough between these two and they need to stop being ridiculous. 

 

El felt an eruption of nerves in her stomach and suddenly she was back to square one, that night she had called him with her dying laptop. 

 

Before she could chicken out, she snatched her phone and quickly pulled up his number. Max was right, it was crazy to dance around this. She was going to go on this date with Mike Wheeler damn it.

 

* * *

 

The countdown to Friday night was absolute torture. El could barely bring herself to focus in her class, since it turned out Max was wrong that setting up the coffee date did NOT in fact stop her from daydreaming. 

 

Hawkins College had a January term, which meant that students just took one class during that month. While El had been ecstatic for the chance to channel all of her energy into just reading (and had successfully convinced Max to sign up for the same class), suddenly the daily three hour classes took forever to end. She found herself doodling in her notebook, reading the same lines over and over again in her books. Thankfully Max had nudged her just in time to be asked by the professor what her thoughts were on Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” so she didn’t look too out of it.

 

Memories of their first time meeting would float through her mind, replaying the moment he had spoken and she had realized who he was. The time they had spent in the library after picking up her laptop had been relaxing, mainly her finally being able to work on her presentation and him being able to nap after pulling two work shifts, but it had been everything she could have ever dreamed of.

  
Now that the coffee date was going to be a reality, she couldn’t contain her excitement.

 

It was hard to be too mad at the amount of days though. She and Max had been able to snag lunch with the boys on Thursday (it was sloppy joes that day which Dustin insisted was the best day of the week). It had been only brief, before the boys had to rush off to their afternoon class, but it had been thrilling to be able to hang out with all of them even for a bit. 

 

Most of the lunch had been the boys enthusiastically describing Dungeons and Dragons, as well as introducing Max and El to their fourth member of their party, Will. El and Will immediately clicked, the quietest of the group and got to watch and laugh at their passionate and talkative friends. 

 

When they finally all had to separate, Mike and El had hung back from the group to say goodbye.

 

“So I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Mike said, shuffling his feet and smiling down at her.

 

El nodded, unable to even really say much at the moment as she felt like she was drowning in his eyes in the absolute best way possible.

 

She eventually replied, “Promise,” and Mike’s eyes lit up (even more if that was possible).

 

“Promise,” he repeated, before Dustin called over for him to hurry up because t _here was no way Professor Clarke was going to miss it if the only two people in class who talked were late_.

 

With a shrug, Mike quick ran after his friends, sending a small wave to El. Responding with one of her own, El watched his gangly form run after the other guys. Just past her, Max snorted.

 

“Okay lover girl let’s go back to the dorms. It’s freezing and you’re going to see him tomorrow.”

 

“Hey don’t think I didn’t see all of those extra looks you snuck Lucas at lunch,” taunted El as she caught up with Max. 

 

Max’s eyes narrowed, “Watch it Hopper, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

El started whistling a tune, raising an eyebrow at her friend before taking off towards their dorm. Max’s draw dropped before swinging her skateboard down. 

 

“Don’t you dare run away from me El Hopper! I know where you live!”

 

* * *

 

Friday evening arrived and in an echo of that fateful Sunday when she took her laptop in, El found herself standing anxiously in front of her mirror. There were two sides to this moment.

 

The good: she was getting ready to go on a date with Mike this time.

 

The bad: she was getting ready to go on a date with Mike this time.

 

Not that going on a date with him was a bad idea, but now she was legitimately nervous about what she should wear. Tugging at the hem of her white cable-knit sweater, she did what she hoped would be her last outfit analysis. 

 

While she had at first wanted to wear one of her long floral skirts that she loved, one glance outside at the impending snow that was going to come down any second told her _that was a bad idea_. When Max had reminded her that Mike had first asked her out when she had been wearing a police academy sweatshirt from the eighties and leggings, El had conceded to that point and simplified what she was going for. The end result was a soft, creamy fisherman’s style sweater with faded blue skinny jeans. As usual her attempt to tame her curls had failed and they remained as wild as usual. 

 

“Text me if he suddenly turns into an axe-murderer,” Max called over from her perch on her dorm bed.

 

El rolled her eyes, finishing shoving her fuzzy-sock covered feet in her new pale pink rain boots. 

 

“I promise to text you if he turns into an axe-murder in the middle of Benny’s,” El recited back.

 

Max glared at her from her phone.

 

“I swear I’ll hunt his sorry ass down if he hurts you and no amount of paladin training, or whatever it is he does, is going to save him,” she swore angrily, sitting up straighter.

 

“Max, trust me, I know you will,” El replied with a cheeky grin, finally fishing her beanie out from under her bed. She could hear Max grumbling something but ignored her while she finished getting ready.   
  


With a quick air kiss blown over to Max (who responded with an affectionate middle finger and an aggravated _I love you too you ridiculous lovestruck child_ ), El then found herself on a similar walk up to the other side of campus just like during finals week. She had to fight the urge to skip all the way up, just barely managing to restrain herself.

 

Before long, El found herself standing back outside Benny’s. This time, rather than standing in front of her with a scone, Mike stood out front waiting for her to go on a date. 

 

A date. 

 

A date!

 

Sneaking up behind him, El poked him in his sides and she could have sworn he jumped a foot in the air. He spun around but when he saw it was her, completely relaxed and the shear terror on his face melted into his easy smile that he always seemed to sport around her.

 

“Hi,” El greeted Mike, tucking a stray curl behind her ear, suddenly shy again after the impulsive tickle moment. She felt her heart thrum excitedly as she looked up at him through her eyelashes. A light snowfall was just beginning to dust the two of them and the snowflakes dotting his inky black hair filled her with a warmth while she took him all in.

 

“Hey,” he replied, unable to take his eyes off of her and the familiar butterflies returned to her stomach. She knew they must look funny just standing and staring at each other but she couldn’t help it, and it appeared that he couldn’t either. He reached out and brushed a snowflake off of her cheek and El felt a shiver race through her entire body.

 

Mike however took it as a sign that she was cold and immediately began to fret.

 

“Oh god, we should go in. You’re probably freezing, let’s head in. I don’t know know why I’m keeping us out here.” 

 

He spouted off his concerns quickly, hurrying over to open the door for El. She couldn’t help but chuckle to herself, Mike truly was a chivalrous knight both in games and in reality. The two made their way into the now bustling Benny’s, both sighing with relief at the warmth.

 

Benny raised a hand in greeting as the two got in line. More students were making their way to the back of the coffeeshop, where the other side transformed into a casual bar for hanging out. Mike and El however had less alcohol-based plans in mind, instead focusing on things like chocolate and coffee. 

 

After getting their orders (black coffee for El, a peppermint hot chocolate for Mike), they pushed their way towards the back of the seating area. 

 

There was a large, brown-leather couch pushed up against the wall that was miraculously still open and the two made an immediate beeline for it. Upon reaching it, El quickly flung her jacket on it to stake their claim.

 

“Hey you know after this if you want we could totally go hang at my dorm too,” Mike was saying while she took off her hat and scarf. “I think the guys were going to Lucas’ dorm to watch one of the Star Wars movies, so if you wanted to watch something or just chill out we can do that.”

 

El opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by a loud, “Hey frog face,” and a large figure knocking into Mike. 

 

The shove sent Mike stumbling forward, causing him and El to collide into each other. With a small pop, the lid on his hot chocolate sprung off and dumped itself directly onto El’s sweater. She jumped backwards, pulling the wet fabric off of herself. Mike swung around and cast a glare at the short and stocky guy with a rugby jersey on who was walking away from them.

 

“It’s amazing how much of a mouth breather Troy still is after all this time,” he growled, straightening himself up. “If there’s one reason to have not stayed local for college…” his voice trailed off as he turned to face El. She was gingerly rubbing napkins on her sweater, looking up to give him a sheepish smile.

 

Mike’s face immediately flooded with concern. 

 

“Oh shit El I’m so sorry!” 

 

He grabbed a massive handful of napkins to try and help her dry if off, but it soon became obvious that their attempts were futile. At this point El mainly was just holding her sweater out to avoid the cold, dampness from hitting her stomach while Mike tried his best. The heat radiating off of him enveloped her and his hair occasionally tickled her nose while he bent over. The first time they had hung out she had picked up that he always smelled like clean laundry and a hint of some sort of pine smell, two things that had very quickly become her favorite smells. 

 

“Mike… Mike,” she said, finally pushing his hands away from where he was desperately scrubbing. “It’s okay I think I’ll just have to wash it.”

 

Mike grimaced and stood up, his face contorted with frustration.

 

“Yeah I guess you’re right. I’m sorry El, I should have been more careful. If I wasn’t so damn clumsy–”

 

“MIKE,” El interrupted his self-deprecating journey he was no doubt about to go on by grabbing his face with her hands and pulling him down closer to her. He sputtered anxiously, suddenly aware of how close their faces were to each other, breath mingling together. 

 

“It’s not your fault Mike,” El said softly. “That guy shoved you. I understand.”

 

Reluctantly standing back up, Mike rubbed his neck while he gazed down at her. 

 

“I know, I know,” he responded, clearly unwilling to give up some of the blame. 

 

An idea struck him and suddenly he lit up, “Hey my dorm is right across the quad on this side of campus, let’s go over there and we can throw your clothes in the laundry!”

 

El nodded, relieved at the idea of being able to get out of these clothes without having to make the trek back to her place. Plus, she had been a bit nervous about the date with Mike coming to an end before it had really even started.

 

With one last glare cast at Troy and his teammates who were obnoxiously bothering a group of sorority girls, the two made their way back outside. 

 

The snow was coming down even more now, huge flakes drifting to the ground. There was that silence in the air that only seems to accompany fresh snow and the campus seemed to have a glow to it. Tilting her head back, El closed her eyes and let the snow fall on her face, sneaking her tongue out for a quick taste. When she had her fill of snowflakes, she looked back down and glanced over at Mike only to see him staring fondly at her.

 

“Pretty,” he said simply, not seeming bothered by her catching him admiring her.

 

The blush on her cheeks didn’t leave for almost the entirety of the walk to his dorm. In fact it probably increased when he hesitantly reached out and they interlaced their hands for the last part of the walk back.

 

All too soon Mike had to slip his hand out El’s to get them into his building. He lived on the third floor and once they made it to his dorm which he shared with Will (though he joked it felt like all four of them lived there), he immediately began to rummage through the drawers of his dresser. El timidly stood next to him, taking in her surroundings. Between the two guys, Will and Mike had certainly made the dorm space their own. Will’s was covered in sprawling sketchbooks and littered with color pencils. A small pride flag was hanging above his bed, along with a white board covered in scribbled portfolio due dates and panicked notes to check about studio hours.

 

Mike’s side had a similar amount of notebooks and the wall had been completely hidden by posters of what El assumed were all of his favorite movies and shows. Some titles she recognized and some she didn’t, mentally noting that she should probably tell him that she had never _Lord of the Rings_ before he made any more references she didn’t get. A pile of textbooks were perched precariously on his desk and what looked like a rather interesting handful of dice were strewn about. Yes, she decided, it was all quintessentially Mike.

 

“Here!” Mike practically shouted, shoving a stack of clothes towards El, breaking her out of her thoughts. “I know I’m a lot taller than you but these ones are a bit older so they should fit you a bit better.”

 

El unfolded them, revealing a pair of gray sweatpants and a deep navy blue sweatshirt.

 

“They’re perfect,” she assured him before going to the bathroom to change. 

 

Indeed, while the clothes were a little long on her, it only took a couple rolls of the fabric to get it just right. Even more perfect was that clean laundry smell that Mike carried with him, the smell that had so distracted her at Benny’s earlier. She was absolutely covered in it.

 

Yes, absolutely perfect.

 

She emerged from the bathroom to see Mike seated on the futon beneath his elevated dorm bed. He was quickly flipping through his DVD collection, humming some sort of song to himself. El couldn’t remember when she had become so sappy but _damn it_ this guy was doing something to her. 

 

Seeing El in front of him, Mike jumped up and waved the DVDs at her.

 

“I’ll grab your sweater and stuff and throw it in the wash, you can pick out a movie if you want.”

 

El grabbed the case as he went off to get the washing machine down the hall going and her eyes landed on the disc for what appeared to be the first of the _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy. With a smile, she pulled it out and inserted it into his Xbox, the screen illuminating the otherwise dim room.

 

Mike couldn’t help the laugh when he came back in and saw her kneeling on the ground, staring in awe at the screen.

 

“Wow I wouldn’t have probably thought to pick _Fellowship of the Ring_ but I’m totally down, I hope you don’t mind that it’s the extended version.”

 

El let out a small cough as she slid next to him on the futon.

 

“Oh well… you see I haven’t actually seen any of these movies. But you like them and I didn’t really get it when you called Professor Shipley ‘Gollum’ so I figured it would be a good choice,” she admitted.

 

He just stared at her blankly for a minute, opening and closing his mouth a couple times as he processed her decision making.

 

“El Hopper,” he finally said in a strangled voice, “Can I kiss you?”

 

From the top of her head to her toes El felt herself grow warm and she could feel herself drowning in his eyes again, taking in every detail of his freckles.

 

“Yes,” she whispered, already leaning in. 

 

Mike met her halfway and while the kiss was light, El felt goosebumps and when they pulled apart they both had ridiculously large smiles on their face. Okay, she felt a bit better now about the happiness about to burst out of her. Wordlessly, with a goofy grin still plastered on his face, Mike grabbed the remote to start the movie.

 

Wiggling closer to him, El took the chance to duck under his arm holding the remote, tucking herself close to him. She took a great deal of delight in how much she could feel his heartbeat in his chest. A warmth radiated from him and she found it almost natural to mold herself to his side. Hardly startled by the petite girl’s movements, Mike draped his arm around her shoulders.

 

The two were silent for a bit before El piped up from underneath Mike’s arm, her tone light and teasing.

 

“Does this mean I need to thank Troy next time we see him for spilling your drink on me?”

 

Mike’s smile grew widely across his face and he chuckled before giving El a light kiss on the top of her head.

 

“Yeah I suppose we should thank that mouth breather after all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a cavity writing that end scene it was so damn sweet. I hope this lived up to the expectations following the first part! Thanks for checking the story out - I'm open to continuing this AU world so I'll keep the chapter number open for now!


	3. You’re an Idiot Mike Wheeler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a brief break from classes, the party finds themselves back in the town of Hawkins for the next couple days. Everything seems even better out here El decides, finally getting to experience it all with Mike by her side. There’s snow, family, and friends. Of course there’s that little thing where they haven’t discussed if they’re officially boyfriend and girlfriend, but it’s not like it’s going to come up right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t think high school me would have ever thought fluff would become my favorite style of fan fiction to write, but this story and these two are just sucking me in right into it. I had so much fun writing this one! Pretty much the goal of each chapter is to up the extreme cavity-inducing sweetness and fluff and I like to think I’m achieving that. Enjoy!

“Shotgun!”

 

“Dustin, you can’t call shotgun, El’s coming with us. She obviously gets the honorary spot.”

 

Mike groaned as Dustin and Lucas began to argue, his arm tightening around El’s shoulders. Elin turn giggled at the boys’ usual antics and tucked herself closer into his body. When she was younger she had constantly dreamt of being taller than she was, but she had recently decided her shorter stature was very much in her favor when it come to the height difference between her and Mike.

 

The group was standing outside Mike’s large silver mini van in the middle of the parking lot by the guys’ dorm. It was the end of their Jan-term, the three week period where they only took one class each day, and they now had this last week of January off. And with all of their families still local in Hawkins, it made sense that the party would all carpool together.

 

Apparently _how_ they carpooled was more difficult than they had planned.

 

“It’s okay guys, I can sit in the back,” El finally said with a laugh when it became clear the two weren’t done debating the seating arrangement.

 

Mike quickly shushed her and leaned down to nuzzle her hair before planting a small kiss on the top of her head.

 

“No let them argue, Dustin needs to learn to be wrong once in while,” he whispered.

 

Max, a native Californian who was absolutely NOT enjoying the Indiana winter, however had different plans in mind.

 

“Guys stop,” her voice rising above the squabble. “Sit in the back of the damn van before I freeze to death. I wasn’t made for this weather and this is just delaying us being in a heated car. Anyway we all know Wheeler has a better chance of looking up at the road if El’s up there with him instead of in the back.”

 

A flurry of reactions all happened at once.

 

Mike immediately began to protest, his ears now tinged red from something other than the cold wind. Lucas was practically glowing at Max siding with him and Dustin had thrown his hands up in frustration because _the rules are the rules, I called “shotgun” first and this party doesn’t allow special treatment_. Will just rolled his eyes and handed El a CD case. 

 

“Here. I may not be sitting up front but I’ve pretty much got permanent music control,” he explained in response to her curious expression.

 

She nodded back, completely understanding, as she took the disc from him. Mike was a sucker for audio books (not that he’d readily admit that) which wouldn’t work for a group road trip, and she knew that Will’s older brother had shown him a lot of music as a kid, so she figured she could trust him. 

 

With Lucas and Dustin successfully closing their argument, the group resumed prepping for the trip. It was hardly anything huge, after all it was a local college, but it was just far enough off the from town that it would take a little bit. Hence Max’s pillow so she could nap and El’s large bag of candy that she had stuffed together last minute for the ride. No one ever thinks they’ll want candy on a road trip but El knows that once the car gets moving people’s minds change. And it’s always better to be prepared.

 

Max and Lucas scrambled into the back and El proudly climbed into the passenger seat, experiencing her first time in shotgun in the famous Millennium Falcon van (another nerdy reference that Mike had explained to her one movie night). When Mike slid into the driver’s seat, they exchanged big smiles and El felt her heart flutter in what was now one of her favorite feelings. She had assumed it would go away after a couple weeks of seeing each other a couple times a week but nope. It was still there as strong as ever.

 

Plus now she got to kiss him whenever she wanted to.

 

“You know if either of us start dating someone, we’ll have reached capacity of the Falcon,” Dustin warned Will as he buckled himself in one of the middle bucket seats. “Which means the other one of us won’t be able to have a partner.”

 

Will put his hand over heart in mock hurt while Lucas and Max pretended to ignore the subtle assumption that they were dating. They also inched their hands further away from each other.

 

“Dustin I’m offended that you would assume if I got a boyfriend it would be anyone other than you,” he replied dramatically, his eyes widening innocently.

 

“Don’t even try to fool me Byers, you’d break up with me as soon as I fell asleep during one of your art lectures. And I honestly wouldn’t blame you.” 

 

El twisted herself so that she was facing the others, looking at Dustin with an amused expression on her face.

 

“I’ll never under how you can take an acting for non-majors class for a month but not be able to handle art,” she teased.

 

Dustin shook his head vigorously, “El I wish I could explain it to you. But this artsy shit is really only appealing when there’s drama or action. I need movement.”

 

The van pulled out of the parking lot filled with the sounds of Will defending art (“Dustin you’re crazy all of that is literally in art what are you talking about?”), Max showing Lucas photos of the ocean back home where it was nice out all of the time and you didn’t need five jackets to stay warm, and Mike smiling to himself. 

 

He hadn’t really expected his sophomore year to go this way, but he was definitely a fan.

 

Drumming his hands on the steering wheel, he stole a glance over at El. She was doing some sort of weird dance move with her arms and had turned to laugh at something Will had said. The sun was glinting off of her hair and she seemed completely free. Thinking back to those early calls between them seemed almost surreal, those first times hearing her timid voice asking for help with her persistently struggling laptop. It had always been at weird hours and always that same hesitation, that she felt like she was bothering them even thought it was her job. 

 

Falling for her voice had happened almost as quickly as he had when he saw her for the first time at Benny’s. 

 

A light snow had begun to fall by the time they made it back into town, putting their travel time at about an hour and a half total due to everyone moving at a snail’s pace on the highway. Most of it had been spent with them singing loudly and rather obnoxiously (save for Dustin who had a great voice) to Will’s playlist and then playing a variety of car games as they pulled in.

 

The first to be dropped off, Will broke down and agreed that they could keep the CD in the car but only if they promised to return it at the end of break. Standing at his front door was a woman who El assumed was his mom and she waved enthusiastically at the van before giving Will a massive bear hug.

 

Max was the next one to be dropped off and it was with a triumphant grin, as she announced to the group that with Billy finally having been kicked out, that she was excited to be spending the next few days moving her stuff to his old room and not hanging out with a bunch of nerds. 

 

She of course finished her goodbyes with a shout that she’d text them later about when they were going to get together later.

 

Dustin hopped out third, swinging his duffle bag over his shoulder, asking them to pray for him since his mom had apparently bought a fourth cat in the last week. They gave him their condolences for his mother’s techniques for filling the void Dustin going to college had created. 

 

Mike’s response of _“well maybe if you lived at home and commuted she’d get rid of the cats”_ earned him the middle finger and a _“text me about our next Dungeons and Dragons meeting, I have some ideas for that podcast.”_

 

Which left El next.

 

“Actually if you can, you can just drop me off me off at the police station,” she told Mike, looking up from the texts from her phone. Seeing his expression of confusion, she quickly expanded. 

 

“My dad’s the Chief of Police, he’s still working right now.”

 

Thankfully Mike’s foot slamming on the brake pedal in surprise coincided with the fact that they had come up to a stoplight. 

 

“He’s what??” He asked, his eyebrows shooting up under his hair.

 

El stifled her laugh.

 

“You know, the dude in charge of the cops. The Chief of Police.”

 

Lucas could barely control his laughter in the backseat and Mike was quickly trying to recover from the news. He blew out a long breath.

 

“No need to panic though right?” 

 

He regained his voice just in time for them to pull up to the small station located in town. He hadn’t ever been over to it before, having successfully solidified his status as a nerd when he was younger and not being in any danger of being arrested. But suddenly his palms were incredibly sweaty while parked outside it because he was dating the Police Chief’s daughter. Was this what it felt like to commit a crime? Was it illegal to date police chiefs’ daughters without permission?

 

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to meet him today,” El reassured him as she leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek. Mike murmured a quick little _thank god_ under his breath and she teasingly poked him the side, earning her one of his wide grins as he finally relaxed again.

 

As she walked up to the building, she turned and waved to the guys before disappearing in. Lucas chuckled, sliding his way into the front passenger seat.

 

“You’re so screwed man,” he said with a look over at Mike who had resumed a pained expression on his face as his mind started spinning again.

 

* * *

 

“So this kid’s alright then?” Hopper asked, pulling down plates from one of the cupboards.

 

El rolled her eyes, hip-checking the refrigerator door shut behind her as she carted over an armful of condiments to the counter. She had made the slight error in mentioning Mike driving them back, to which her dad had gotten one of those grins he got when he was feeling mischievous, and with a wiggle of his eyebrows, began his line of questioning.

 

“Yes. For the millionth time. You know I wouldn’t have accepted a ride with him if he wasn’t. Anyway Max likes him and his friends too, that’s gotta be a sign right?”

 

Hopper shrugged as he placed the burgers onto the buns in front of him. 

 

It had been absolutely too cold to grill but when El came home, he usually pulled out all of the stops for meals so that meant tonight he had grilled out in the snow. It also meant that there were six boxes of Eggos in the fridge, three cans of whip cream, and a bunch of other frozen meals shoved in there. He knew it wasn’t the healthiest, especially when she probably wasn’t eating the best food at the dining halls either, but two bats of her eyelashes and he was sunk. He couldn’t help himself, spoiling his daughter was worth it. Plus apparently she biked everywhere on campus so at least she was exercising some. 

 

It was when they were seated at the small dining table that he asked another question.

 

“So when do I get to meet this handsome Mike Wheeler with the nice voice?”

 

El’s jaw dropped, freezing raising up her loaded burger to her mouth.

 

“DAD.”

 

“What?” His voice was filled with fries as he shrugged casually. “I think I reserve the right to meet the kid if he’s going to go around smooching you.”

 

Burying her head in her hands, El let out a groan. He was such a Dad™ sometimes it was painful. When she didn’t respond to his question, Hopper tapped her on the head.

 

“You know I could just look him up, I am a cop,” he said knowingly as she peaked her eyes through her fingers.

 

“I swear to god if you look anything on him up I will run away back to Chicago.” 

 

Hopper merely grinned and returned to his dinner. El lifted her head and raised a single eyebrow as she gazed back at him. 

 

“How did you know I like his voice?” She asked cautiously before slowly munching on a couple of French fries (currently drowned in ketchup).

 

“A good cop never reveals his sources.”

 

“Ugh it was Max wasn’t it?” El knew it. _She knew it!_

 

“Hey Max is a wonderful girl, she’s practically been my other daughter since you both met at freshman orientation. It’s not my fault she occasionally keeps me up to date when the daughter I actually adopted doesn’t fill me in,” he said warningly, his tone warmed by that hint of teasing that his voice often had when giving El a hard time.

 

El grumbled into her burger, finally feeling like she could dig in now that she knew that she was going to have to text Max after dinner and lecture her about doing this type of thing. Why had she mentioned the voice thing?! Though if El was honest with herself, Max had probably just mentioned how they met which meant describing the idea of Mike’s voice was inevitable. 

 

After a beat it was Hopper's turn to shake his head as he thought to himself, taking another bite of his burger before responding.

 

“I actually knew his parents in high school. Ted Wheeler was such a clown even as a teenager that if you’re able to like his kid, something right must have happened. But,” he added jabbing a fry in El’s direction. “I still want to meet him.”

 

Luckily for Jim Hopper, that day was going to come sooner than later.

 

* * *

 

Mike’s van pulled into their long driveway two days later. The party had decided to have a snowball fight in one of the fields by their old middle school and it was the first day each of them could get away from their families.

 

Hopper had miraculously not needed to report too early that morning, though El suspected that he had called Flo and made it so that he could come in later (she never found proof but still). That meant Wednesday rolled around with the two of them in the living room drinking coffee, Hopper secretly pleased with himself while El stared him down suspiciously over the rim of her mug.

 

Her thought-process was halted at the sounds of tires crunching on the gravel outside their house and she leapt up off the couch. 

 

“He’s here!”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” muttered Hopper, taking his time to place his coffee down and slowly stretching himself into a standing position.

 

Turning around, he was able to watch El fling open the front door and yank a tall, lanky figure into their house before encasing him in a huge hug. The kid certainly hadn’t taken after his father in appearance which was a good thing, Hopper thought to himself, though he wasn’t sure he saw too much of Karen either. When the two split up after what felt like an overly long hung for not seeing each other for two days, El began to drag Mike over to her dad.

 

“Mike, this is my dad. Dad this is Mike,” she said, introducing them in an almost giddy voice that Hopper wasn’t sure he had heard come from her before. He also finally felt like he understood the term ‘heart eyes’ for the first time, if seeing how she gazed up at Mike was any indication.

 

Mike however hadn’t taken his eyes off of Hopper and extended a hand out to him to shake. Hmm. Maybe Karen had done a good job raising him after all. Hopper met his handshake and shook it firmly, making sure to sneak in an extra squeeze right at the end.

 

“So uh, are you ready?” Mike asked, feeling that he could look back down at her now that the scariest part was out of the way. While he was still nervous about her dad, he seemed much more like an observing type of guy to Mike which was safer than him just immediately yelling at him about taking care of his only daughter.

 

El nodded excitedly, grabbing her jacket and scarf off the back of the couch.

 

“Yep I’ve got it – oh wait hang on, I don’t have my gloves. Let me go check my room!”

 

She had hardly waited for a response before darting off to one of the rooms towards the back of the house. 

 

Which meant that now Mike and Hopper were both just standing in the living room next to each other.

 

Choosing to use this brief moment of alone time wisely, Hopper leaned in closely, slightly unnerved by the lack of height difference. He wasn’t sure he remembered college kids being this tall, especially ones who were just sophomores in college.

 

“I will say this Wheeler,” he whispered. “While I’m not one of those old conservative dads with a shotgun sitting on the porch, I can promise you that I will come for you if you hurt her. And it will be fully with her permission, as an independent young woman.”

 

Mike gulped but refused to break eye contact.

 

“I understand, _sir_. But trust me, hurting her is the last thing I’m going to do. I promise,” he responded in an equally low voice so that El couldn’t hear them.

 

Pulling himself back, Hopper felt that he was satisfied. He knows that people can lie, he is a cop after all, but the strength in Mike’s response and the way he equally stared him down impressed him. He wasn’t as worried anymore. It felt like when this kid made a promise, he stuck to it and he could appreciate that.

 

El ran breathlessly up to them from her room, completely missing the two locked in a stare before they broke apart upon her entrance. 

 

“Found them!” Excitement practically bursting from her, she waved the pair of dusty-pink colored gloves in the air as she bounded over to them.

 

Giving Hopper a quick hug, she promised to text him any updates if they changed plans and to make sure to tell Flo hello for her. And then with a small wave from Mike, the two were back outside and heading towards the van.

 

Hopper walked over to the window and watched Mike open the door for El before going over to the driver’s side. He waited as the car backed out of the driveway and down the path to the main road. Taking a long sip of his coffee, he couldn’t help the small smile that was growing on his face. He wasn’t a big believer in young love, most of the time you grew apart and married other people, but there was something special about the way the two had looked at each other that warmed the cynic inside him. 

 

* * *

 

Pulling up to the middle school, El could see the rest of the gang was already there. Max’s red hair shone in the sunlight that had finally emerged that day, glinting alongside with the snow. Will was currently sprinting away from Lucas (who it looked like even from the parking lot had deadly aim), while Dustin was compiling what looked like a massive amount of snowballs as supplies for the fight.

 

“They’re here!” Max called out, waving enthusiastically before dodging a snowball from Lucas with ease. 

 

“Older stepbrother,” she reminded him as he had frowned at missing what he thought had been a wide-open shot.

 

Mike and El stomped their way across to the rest of the party, making sure they were each fully prepared in their gear. Circling up, Will and Lucas called a truce with a big hug and their traditional two-slaps-on-the-back salute. They weren’t enemies, _yet_. They hadn’t drawn the team lines yet.

 

“Well we can’t do girls versus guys,” Dustin was saying.

 

“Excuse you, El and I could absolutely take you all down,” Max shot back.

 

Will let out a loud exhale. “That’s actually more what I’m afraid of.”

 

“There’s no way El and Mike can be on the same team,” Lucas said quickly.

 

Dustin immediately disagreed.

 

“No they probably should be on the same team, they’ll never go after each other otherwise.”

 

El and Mike grinned at each other. Sure they’d play by the rules but they wouldn’t be able to help it if they happened to miss their shots at each other most of the time.

 

“We should balance it out by skill level,” Mike eventually declared. “It’s the most fair thing to do. And then when we’re done with that we’ll do a free-for-all.”

 

As usual, Mike taking the lead worked out and they split up. Will, Lucas, and Dustin on one team, with Mike, El, and Max on the other.

 

With the old football goal posts as the home bases, they immediately dove into the game. It was that perfect snow for being outside, it packed well and was just soft enough that instead of hurting, it would explode in a puff of flakes upon contact. The sunshine created a great balance of the warm and cold and soon even Max wasn’t complaining about the weather. 

 

It was a close match for sure, probably too close for a winner to be truly declared. Max and Lucas were clearly the best of the two teams and spent most of it targeting each other in an unspoken competition between themselves. Dustin, while not necessarily the strongest, had seemed to make himself an unlimited supply of ammo and was able to rapid-fire pelt snowballs at the others. El turned out to be sneakily good at it, surprising Will more than once and dumping a pile of snow on him. Mike was okay at the throwing, but after years of torturous gym classes, had mastered the ability to dodge.

 

Soon Will yelled for a break and they all collapsed into the snow, feeling like kids again. 

 

The sun had lowered slightly and they all did their best to catch their breath. Max began to make a snow angel, giving Lucas a loud hush when he teased her about knowing she’d eventually learn to like the snow.

 

El hummed and closed her eyes, sneaking a hand over to where Mike’s was and grasping it. 

 

“Tired?” His voice was a sleepy sounding as she felt.

 

“Mhmm,” she sounded in response, rolling onto her side to face him. They had ended up going for much longer than they had realized and she could feel a hunger begin to rumble in her stomach. She also wasn’t sure the last time she had run around this much, especially in such deep snow.

 

Mike brushed a stray curl off of her cheek. 

 

“How about we ditch our friends and head back to my place? I bet we could get my mom to make us lunch and I’ve got loads of movies. I could finally show you the new Star Wars movie,” he offered, his excitement perking up.

 

El agreed that it sounded like a great plan to her and the two stood up, Mike helping her jump to her feet. Brushing the snow off her jacket, she turned to the rest of the party.

 

“Okay you nerds, we’re going to go get warm, please don’t kill each other in the next snowball fight.”

 

“Yeah we’d like to see you all back in one piece,” Mike jokingly lectured.

 

“Whatever Mom and Dad,” groaned Max throwing her arm over her face. “Anyway I’m totally going to crush these guys, I hope that warning was for them.”

 

El flushed at the nicknames but pointedly ignored the teasing.

 

As the two made their way back to the car, they could hear the shouts of their friends resuming the snowball fight and with a grin, decided to make bets on who they thought was going to win the free-for-all.

 

* * *

 

El was just scraping her boots on the welcome mat when a woman rounds the corner behind the stairs, wiping her hands on a dishtowel.

 

“Mike is that you?”

 

“Hey, yeah I’m home! We came back for some hot chocolate and to hang out,” he replied, shaking the snow out of his hair as he stepped into the houses. 

 

“Oh!” She exclaimed, “That sounds lovely. And like a good idea, you don’t want to freeze out there. Does your friend have a name Michael?” Her tone of voice had a decided ring to it that said manners were something she drilled into her children.

 

Mike sheepishly rubbed his neck, turning to El.

 

“Mom this is my – uh, El.”

 

Mike barely made it through the sentence he was stumbling so bad over his words by the time he reached the end. El tried to not let her smile crack and instead quickly shot her eyes over to him, noting how extremely red his face was. What had gotten him so flustered? 

 

Then it hit her.

 

They had never talked about if they were officially boyfriend or girlfriend.

 

To her credit, Mrs. Wheeler didn’t react to any of the awkwardness and instead reached out to give El a hug. She was warm and smelled like roses and cookies, and just barely the lightest hint of that laundry smell that Mike carried too. 

 

“Well it’s wonderful to meet you El, I’m Karen,” she said warmly, her eyes turning to Mike with twinkle. “Please come out of the front foyer! You can leave your boots here and come on back into the kitchen. The sugar cookies should almost be done and I can get some hot water brewing for hot chocolate.”

 

She was everything El would have guessed a stereotypical mother would be. While she did seem incredibly nice, she was also able to see why Mike sometimes ended phone calls home with a groan from her well-placed, overbearing nature.

 

“That would be great, thank you,” she said, throwing her coat up on the coat rack. Stealing a glance at Mike, she nervously chewed on the inside of her cheek. 

 

He looked positively nauseous.

 

Trying to swallow the nerves that were threatening to erupt within her, she motioned towards the kitchen. Wordlessly Mike nodded and the two made their way back to meet up with Mrs. Wheeler again. She had placed a plate of the cookies on the island in the middle of the counter and was just putting a kettle of hot water on the stove top.

 

While she asked the two the usual, generic questions you asked college kids, El dutifully answered but couldn’t stop herself from nervously chewing on her nail in between answers. Her brain was quickly going over everything she knew.

 

First:

 

  1. Mike liked her. Duh. She wasn’t stupid.
  2. They hung out semi-regularly and seemed to genuinely enjoy it.
  3. He was affectionate but never pressured her.



 

The counters points, however, were the ones sticking out in her mind.

 

  1. Mike was a year older than her.
  2. Mike had never once brought up the idea of seriously dating or being boyfriend and girlfriend. 



 

Okay so she didn’t have a third point to equally balance it out, but the other two seemed to weigh heavily against them. Why hadn’t Mike asked her to be his girlfriend? She was someone who wore her heart on her sleeve, there was no way he could be confused about how she felt. Maybe he just saw her as a kid? Even that seemed ridiculous but suddenly El found herself going down the rabbit hole of theories about why Mike never asked her to be his girlfriend. She must have been completely lost in thought because she was startled by a soft, warm hand placing itself on hers, stopping her from completely gnawing off her fingernail in one go. 

 

Looking up, she saw Mike had scooted closer to her side and was looking down at her, concern etched across his face. Mrs. Wheeler had left the kitchen entirely.

 

El looked back down at their hands together. She had asked him the other week to help kick her habit of biting her nails and he had agreed to try to find ways to stop her. And that was what he was doing this very moment.

 

All of the negative thoughts that had been spiraling in her mind seemed to melt away as he slowly intertwined their fingers together. 

 

“I’m sorry El,” he murmured, rubbing his thumb slowly across her hand. She had returned to gazing up at him and he almost hadn’t been able to handle it, ducking his face a bit. It was like he had read her thoughts.

 

“I just got so nervous about ruining everything. You still feel so weirdly like a dream, you just showed up one day in my life. I’m not great about any of this type of stuff and always know how to say just the wrong things. Though I guess not saying anything this time really messed it up,” he added on glumly. 

 

El felt a soft smile blossoming on her face. 

 

Mike, her sweet, constantly worrying Mike. El laughed at the idea that she could be intimidating in any shape or form, but it now made a lot more sense. Plus to be fair to him, it wasn’t as if she had brought it up either, she conceded.

 

She untangled their hands and reached up to brush through his hair gently before tracing his freckles on his cheeks. His eyes were staring so intently at her and just like when they had first met in the coffeeshop two months ago, she felt herself drowning in them.

 

He bent forward, pressing his forehead to hers and his arms wrapping tightly around her waist as he pulled her close to him.

 

“El, I know I’m an idiot but will you please be my girlfriend anyway?” His voice was warm and almost pleading. Of course, no pleading was necessary.

 

“Yes,” she whispered back, almost unaware of how they had both lowered their voices as much as they had in the suddenly intimate moment. “You’re an idiot Mike Wheeler, of course I will.”

 

She could feel his body sag with relief and he tucked his hand under her chin and caught her mouth in a kiss. Sliding her arms around his neck, she kissed him back, channeling all of the irrational fear she had just had out of her mind and trying to convey how much he meant to her. She was about to tangle her hands in his hair (it was really insane how silky it always was), when a small gasp from behind Mike startled them apart.

 

“Ew gross! Mike’s going to have cooties!”

 

Mike whirled around and El peeked past him, only to see a small blonde girl standing in the doorframe from the living room to the kitchen. She looked positively scandalized before ducking past them and running into the other room with a slight shriek.

 

El tried her best to not laugh, hoping to not entirely ruin the mood but she couldn’t help it. She burst into laughter and Mike started laughing too, throwing his head back in frustration.

 

“I swear nothing is ever easy or goes according to plan for us,” he said with a roll of his eyes, pulling El back into his embrace as they leaned up against the counter.

 

Still laughing, El tickled Mike slightly in the side before kissing his chin as she tried to stand on her tiptoes.

 

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay the third chapter is now complete! I have to admit I underestimated how much harder it would be to write more when I got back to work. I’m in the process of chapter three for both my Lumax zombie AU and my 1950s AU as well, though the zombie one will most likely come first! Then that one will be followed up with a Mileven zombie AU to accompany it. Either way I suppose I’m doing a lot of writing!
> 
> If you have any things you’d love to see, please feel free to comment them and I’ll see how I can fit them into the list of things I’ve roughly planned for this story! Thanks for reading!


	4. The Right Incentive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike is eager to take El out on a date when one of his labs is canceled. What he doesn’t expect is for her to pick to go ice skating. It sounds dreamy and romantic for sure, but Mike’s never been skating before (or anything athletic really). But he can’t say no to El, and it turns out that she knows just how to encourage him to get him comfortable on the ice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m trying to fit this one in before hopefully doing a Valentine’s Day themed chapter, hence why it’s a bit shorter! I wanted to also give them a break from the random bad luck I give them in this story so this is pure fluff this time around. And now onto the chapter, where we get to fully start enjoying what it means for Mike and El to be dating!

The Hawkins College Library maybe wasn’t the biggest one out there, but to El it was perfect. It had plenty of big comfy chairs for reading, expansive tables for spreading out homework, and small study rooms for groups (which she and Max would often frequent).

 

There something even better than all of that too.

 

It was between the main dining hall and the computer science building.

 

Which meant _Mike_.

 

Mike was usually pretty busy, he was taking a couple extra course loads to balance out his major and minor so that he could still graduate on time, but he always managed to find time to pop over to the library and see El for a bit. Sometimes he would work on homework, but more often than not they’d either just chat or he’d use her as a pillow to nap on. El never minded it when he slept. She often took the role of the worrying one of the relationship when it came to his sleeping habits (or lack thereof). 

 

Plus it gave her to the opportunity to brush her hands through his curls while she read.

 

Today, however, El wasn’t expecting him and was bobbing her head to her music playing through her headphones when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

 

Even though it was delicate, she still spun around in her chair, yanking her headphones out to see who had surprised her. She was greeted by her favorite features: a massive smile, dark hair, and a constellation of freckles.   


“Holy shit Mike,” she said breathlessly, laughing and placing a hand over her heart. “You practically gave me a heart attack!”

 

He shrugged, attempting to look apologetic but the shit-eating grin on his face ruined any chance of that. He swooped in and kissed her on the cheek though to make up for it. 

 

“Sorry about that,” he replied, wrapping himself around her as she turned back to the table, resting his head on top of hers. “But I got an email just in time saying that my evening lab was canceled, and I know you don’t have Thursday afternoon classes, so what do you say we go out and do something?”

 

El smirked and titled her head back so she could look up at him.

 

“Are you asking me on a date Wheeler?”

 

“I know, I’m the ultimate boyfriend. I’ll try not to get too big of an ego about it.”

 

Laughing, El quickly began to pull her papers together and Mike released his hold on her so that he could help.

 

“Where to then?” 

 

“How about you pick? I made you go to that comic book signing thing last week.”

 

“Okay but you’re adorable when you’re geeking out, how was I supposed to say no to that?” El teased him as she swung her backpack over her shoulder.

 

Hand in hand, the two made their way out of the library. An idea struck El and she looked up at Mike excitedly.

 

“How about we go ice skating?? I think that outdoor rink is going to be up for at least one more month!”

 

Mike let out a slow chuckle and his eyes widened when he realized she was serious.

 

“El. Normally dates are about continuing to like someone. If you see me skate, I can’t promise you that you’re still going to find me attractive,” he warned.

 

Giving him a squeeze of her hand, El shook her head.

 

“Not true. I will totally still find you attractive. Maybe even more so,” she added with a nudge to his side with her elbow.

 

* * *

 

The area where the temporary rink has been set up is surprisingly crowded, a collection of small booths around it as a sort of winter version of a farmers market. There are a handful of teenagers and a lot of families (as well as one really cute old couple that Mike has to drag a gushing El from). 

 

After renting their skates and throwing their shoes in the lockers, they make their way over to the rink.

 

El freely skates down the ice, chatting on about one of her classes when she realizes she’s completely alone and talking to herself. Swinging to her right to get to the railing, she looks back only to see Mike hovering at the gate. His face is almost ashen, completely taken over by nerves, and even though he tries to reassure her with a smile, it instead comes out like a grimace. 

 

With an affectionate shake of her head and gentle smile, she skates back over to him.

 

Mike is nervously shifting his weight and is trying to not completely wipe out even on the solid surface of the ground, his ankles completely shocked at this new experience of being so encased in something.

 

It’s like his body knows he’s about to do something athletic and it’s doing everything it can to NOT do something athletic.

 

She clasps his hands in hers and leans over the siding, looking him in the eye.

 

“Michael Wheeler, are you nervous?”

 

Mike delayed his answer with a dramatic cough before a mumbled, “I’ve never ice skated before.”

 

El’s mouth forms a small ‘o’ and then spreads into an almost-lovestruck smile. 

 

“And you still agreed to do this with me?” She’s doing one of her dramatic voices she saves for when she’s imitating voices from her soap operas. Mike can’t totally tell if she’s truly touched or if she’s mocking him.

 

But a bigger issue than that is the giant ice rink in front of him that he can’t take his eyes off of.

 

For god’s sake there are CHILDREN skating like it’s no problem.

 

He can feel his face flush and he stammers getting his thoughts out as he rambles.

 

“It’s–it’s fine. How about you skate around and do you thing? I can chill over here on the benches and get like photos or something. I’m sure it would look great on your Instagram. And it’s not even too cold out so you won’t have to worry about me. You should go have fun.”

 

El rolls her eyes.

 

He’s lucky he’s adorable.

 

“Come on Mike,” she urges, holding her hand out. “I’ll help you, just trust me.”

 

It’s rough at first.

 

When they’ve barely it a quarter of the way around the rink after what feels like a while, El decides they need a new plan. She’ll willingly hold onto Mike the whole way if necessary, she doesn’t have ridiculous expectations of him. But based on his facial expression, she’d like to at least make this experience a little fun.

 

“Okay,” she says, thinking out loud. “How about I skate in front of you?”

 

Mike makes a desperate noise of protest, his one hand tightening on the siding and the other shooting out to grab El’s arm. She was going to leave him behind?? With a chuckle, El gently loosens his grip from her and pushes herself ahead just slightly.

 

“You’ve got to let me finish,” she says with a wink. “I’ll skate in front of you, but if I go slow enough I can face you. And then all you have to do is come to me.”

 

Nodding hesitantly, Mike slows himself down a bit more (if possible) to allow for a bit more space between them. El picks up her pace just slightly, her legs pushing down against the ice as she skates to a couple of feet ahead of him. With a quick glance to make sure there aren’t any children behind her, she slowly bends her knees at an angle before turning to face Mike. He watches in amazement as her cautious movements become more comfortable and soon she’s smoothly skating backwards, her body swaying slightly as she pushes off each foot. 

 

Almost like a magnet, and afraid that she’ll get too far ahead, Mike unknowingly begins to move forward as well.

 

He’s still stumbling somewhat but El claps her hands and lets out a happy cheer.

 

“Look you’re already doing better!”  


Mike lets out a shaky laugh as he looks down because _holy shit_ he’s actually skating.

 

Well. 

 

Sort of.

 

His ankles are still wobbling like crazy but he’s biting his lip in concentration and El can see the wheels spinning in his mind as he attempts to figure it out better. 

 

“Alright, now more incentive,” she called out, pausing to give a little wave to a small boy who was watching them curiously. 

 

She lifts her arms up and beckons Mike towards her.

 

“You have to catch up to me. Each time you do, you’ve earned a kiss. Then I’ll back up again and we’ll do it again,” she explained.

 

Mike’s eyes widen and even in his struggle, he can’t fight the smirk that grows on his face.

 

“Gee Hopper, it’s like you know exactly what motivates me. Can we do this for everything?” 

 

“Only if you actually succeed here,” she taunts back.

 

There’s a new sparkle to his eyes as he lets out a deep breath and takes a shuddering step towards her. The blade makes a crisp cutting sound on the ice and he takes another one. 

 

“You have to look forward, look up at me,” El instructs, her soft voice dipping into a more educational tone. Mike nods silently, forcing his gaze from his feet up to her. 

 

She’s got a big smile on her face and she’s practically glowing from the ice. The way she’s looking at him nearly helps carry him across the ice alone and he tries to mimic the way she’s gliding. It’s still not easy, but the longer he watches her and tries to coordinate himself, the better it gets and she keeps yelling out encouragement.

 

Before he knows it, she’s a breath away and in his excitement he sort of crashes into her as he reaches her arms and they collide against the railing.

He panics for a second but she’s laughing too hard to actually be in pain and he finds himself laughing along with her. 

 

“Where’s my kiss then?” He jokingly boxes her in against the railing, dropping his head closer to her and rubbing his nose against hers. 

 

“Right here,” she whispers before pressing her lips to his, pulling his head the rest of the way with a gloved hand woven into his hair. 

 

Just when he feels himself falling deeper into the kiss, somewhat forgetting they’re in a public space, El pulls back and with a grin, ducks out from under his arms.

 

“Alright, you gotta catch up to me again if you want another kiss!”

 

Mike groans, but can’t even pretend to be mad about it. She’s too damn adorable and even he had to admit he was getting a little bit more coordinated. So with a hesitant take off from the railing, he begins to skate after her again.

 

* * *

 

An hour later and the two are completely exhausted.

 

Mike had ended up making strides in his skating, able to even let go of the railing for the second half. Once he got a little too good at catching up to El, she determined that it was enough of that for now (if he kept it up she was going to have to drag him back to one of their dorms since she didn’t think it was appropriate to make out on an ice rink). A handful of people had caught onto their game and there had occasionally been some cheers whenever he would catch her, much to Mike’s embarrassment but eventually they had begun to play it up. Sometimes they were characters from El’s shows to quoting their favorite quips from Han and Leia. A couple young girls had burst into giggles after one of Mike’s more _passionate_ kisses as they looked at the college kids in awe. 

 

By the end of it, El’s cheeks are flushed pink and the cold has been driven away by the sweat they’ve built up. Mike’s hair is a cloud of inky blackness around him, the exertion causing small curls to appear at the ends, much to El’s fascination.

 

They’d done one last lap, holding hands instead of onto the railing, before plopping down onto one of the benches again. 

 

Catching her breath, El leaned in and kissed Mike on the cheek. 

 

“I’m proud of you, you really picked it up!”

 

“Yeah I guess I did,” Mike replied bashfully, tugging his shoes back on. He was excited that he had gotten better but he was trying to mask how out of breath he still was.

 

El must not have noticed because her gaze had returned to the area around them, before excitedly poking his shoulder and pointing out ahead of them.

 

“Ooh! Apple cider!”

 

Before Mike can fully process it all, she’s darted over towards the booth. Practically stumbling over his own feet, his lanky form unfolded from sitting to yet again after her (thankfully this time on land).

 

One of the little old women from the couple that El had been fawning over earlier stopped Mike with a reach of her hand.

 

“I just wanted to let you know that you and your darling girlfriend are very cute together,” she said and Mike felt a giddy smile grow on his face and simply nodded his head, at first unsure of what to say. 

 

The woman knocked her shoulder into her wife next to her, who was cheering on their grandchild on the rink. 

 

“Weren’t these two precious?” 

 

“Oh yes, it’s always wonderful seeing young love like that,” the other woman says, turning to give Mike a tender look. “Make sure you take care of her,” she adds on, with a teasing waggle of her finger.

 

Mike swallows and agrees, looking over to El who is enthusiastically talking with one of the little girls they had seen skating. She’s radiant and Mike feels his heart skip a beat. The woman had said young love, and while he and El had certainly not said the “L word” to each other yet, he couldn’t deny the strength of their connection. There was something about her that felt like she completed him, something that he hadn’t even realized was missing was filled by her. The way their friends had all bonded immediately, seamlessly coming together. 

 

It was almost impossible to explain but El was so intertwined in his life and his heart, Mike knew that she wasn’t going anywhere for a while. Or ever, if he could help it.

 

Turning back to the two women looking at him expectantly and also adoringly, he smiled widely before saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll always take care of her. Promise.”


	5. Happy Valentine’s Day El Hopper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valentine’s Day is coming up and Mike Wheeler can only hope for the best. With a bit of help from friends, he attempts to orchestrate the best plan he can so that he can treat El to the best night possible. Years of awkward, forced card exchanges in elementary school and overall ignoring this holiday are coming to an end, in what will most likely end up being their favorite Valentine’s Day yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t even have an explanation for this, I just went full fluff. The fluffiest of fluff. Enjoy and happy Valentine’s Day regardless of your relationship status or if you're not romantically interested in people! Fill your day with cute fluffy fics of your OTPs!

**Monday, 10:31 AM**

 

The door to the computer science building is heavier than Max was expecting, and she lets out a grunt as she pulls it open, trying to ignore the stares from a confused tour group passing by. 

 

The door swings open heavily, Max just dodging it as she slips inside into the hallway. With a quick check of her phone to make sure she’s going in the right direction, she makes her way through the unknown building. Her sneakers squeak on the tiled floor and she’s thankful that the walls are thick enough that none of the classes in session can hear her. She prefers for people to stare at her when she’s doing something purposefully attention-grabbing, like tricks on her skateboard, versus being a semi-lost looking first-year student.

 

Eventually she finds the classroom she’s looking for (it only took going up a crazy couple of flights of stairs that ended up being on the outside of the building), and she pops her head into the classroom marked 315. 

 

True to his word, Mike Wheeler is sitting at one of the computers.

 

He’s got headphones on, massive ones that cover his ears and make his hair pouf out almost comically where it’s been pushed out of the way. He’s muttering something to himself while he stares at the screen with a frown. Max gives him a small flick on the back of his head before plopping down in the chair next to him.

 

The look of annoyance that crosses his face clears when he realizes it’s Max and quickly pulls his headphones down to around his neck.

 

“Good, you found me!”

 

“Yeah your instructions were less than clear Wheeler,” she teased back. “Anyway, what’s up?”

 

Mike reaches into his backpack at his feet and Max feels her jaw literally drop when she looks at what he’s pulled out.

 

“Oh my god.”

 

“I know,” he says sheepishly, running a hand through his hair nervously. “They don’t exactly let you order a small amount.”

 

“This is all for Valentine’s Day?” Max asks, gesturing towards the plastic bag resting between them on the desk.

 

Mike merely nods, his eyes flickering between her and the bag with a nervous glint to them. While he’s a relatively anxious person no matter what, Max isn’t sure she’s ever seen him like this. He’s super jittery, his leg bouncing up and down and he’s drumming his knuckles on the desk. Not being able to take any more of torturing the poor guy, Max gives him a reassuring smile.

 

“Yeah I think she’s going to love it. Though, what _exactly_ is it you need me to do?”

 

A smile breaks out on Mike’s face, lighting him up and transforming him into an excitable child all in the blink of an eye. With that, he launches into his plan and Max begins to mentally take notes. Oh yeah, El is definitely going to love this.

 

* * *

 

**Tuesday, 6:45 AM**

 

A blaring beeping noise exploded into the morning, the phone screen it was coming from illuminating the otherwise dark dorm room. 

 

El jerked awake, blearily rubbing her eyes before rolling over to turn off her alarm. As she went to tap the button (heavily considering hitting “snooze” instead of actually getting up), her hands brushed something small. Suddenly feeling more awake at the out-of-place sensation, she flicked her light on and looked down at her bedside table.

 

A yellow sweetheart.

 

Eyebrows furrowed, El reached over and picked up the small candy. Holding it up and trying to process it in her barely-awake state of mind, she does her best but can’t reach any conclusions of how this little thing made its surprise appearance. With a shrug, she puts it back and finally turns off her alarm, just in time for Max to let out a groan of frustration at being disturbed before nestling deeper under her pile of blankets.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” El mutters to herself as she makes her way out from under her covers, asking herself for the millionth time why she willingly chose to have an 8 AM class. Dustin had been right, it was definitely a freshman mistake.

 

As she goes about getting ready for the day, the little candy is completely forgotten.

 

 

**Tuesday, 8:05 AM**

 

Professor Nelson is just beginning to start class and El is already fighting back a yawn. 

 

She can’t help it. It’s not that she doesn’t like her psychology class, she actually really likes it.

 

It’s just that it’s so early and her professor doesn’t exactly have the most exciting voice. It’s actually incredibly monotone and El curses herself for the second time that day for signing up for such an early class. She was definitely asking the boys for scheduling advice next time she had the chance.

 

Announcing to the class that they will need to take notes on the presentation that day, Professor Nelson then busies himself setting up the PowerPoint. El can’t help the thrill of pulling out her notebook, still relatively unused save for the first couple weeks of notes for the new semester. Max constantly gives her a hard time about her thing for office supplies, but El isn’t able to resist the smell of new pencils and the crispness of new notebooks.

 

Plus all of it is so cute now, how is she supposed to turn it down while she’s wandering through the endless aisles with all of it in Target? She really can’t.

 

It’s when she’s fishing for one of her new gel pens that her fingers pass over something.

 

Or more like plural _somethings_. 

 

Frowning, she quickly glances up to check that the presentation hasn’t started before fully bending at the waist to inspect her backpack. 

 

It’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on, so with one last safety look up towards her professor, she pulls out her phone and clicks the flashlight on. Peering into the depths of her bag, she scans it with the light until her eyes fall on the mysterious objects that are resting at the base of her bag, barely escaping being crushed by a textbook. 

 

Two sweetheart candies. This time a green and an orange one.

 

She had written off her morning discovery easily. In her mind she or Max had put it on her bedside table and had forgotten it. So maybe some had spilled in her backpack? 

 

It felt a little too out there for that to be the solution to this, but maybe she–

 

“Miss Hopper, while I’m sure the contents of your backpack are very interesting, would you mind please turning off your flashlight? I’m about to dim the lights so your classmates can see the presentation better, and I’ve got a feeling that bright light of yours would end up being a bit of a distraction,” floated over Professor Nelson’s voice, interrupting El’s stream of thoughts.

 

Face burning red, El nodded and quickly turned off the light, sitting back upright in her chair. As the room grew darker and she opened up her notebook to a fresh page, she shrugged it off. She’s a forgetful person; she probably chucked some candy on her desk and it had opened up and dropped into her backpack.

 

Nothing to worry about.

 

 

**Tuesday, 12:27 PM**

 

While El in general always looks forward to lunch, her favorite ones are the times when she gets to eat with her friends. On Tuesdays, it happens to be with Will. They had accidentally discovered that they got lunch at the same time the first week of the spring semester, nearly literally running into each other one day. Since then, they reserved Tuesdays for their lunch days and would meet up to eat together before splitting ways (him to his art studio sessions and El to her required history class). 

 

El’s currently trying to not choke on her soda as she laughs at Will’s impression of Dustin finding out that a girl from their high school, Stacy, had actually recognized him after all this time. 

 

It’s pretty spot on and the two of them dissolve into laughter, though Will has to quickly hush the two of them when the girl in question walks by.

 

“Dustin should raise his standards,” El whispers as she watches the girl walk by. “Remembering someone’s name doesn’t mean much.”

 

Will shakes his head, a small smirk on his face.

 

“Are you kidding me? She remembered _his name_ , Dustin is already planning out what their wedding invitations are going to look like.”

 

“As long as he picks you to design them,” El adds on as she jabs a finger in Will’s direction.

 

Will lets out an almost barking laugh, throwing his head back.

 

“Oh I’m totally going to charge him out the ass for it.”

 

They continue to wrap up their meal when Will takes a quick glance down at his phone on the table. It illuminates “12:30” up at him and he curses a little bit under his breath.

 

“Looks like my story ran a little long. I’ll catch you later?” He asks, tossing his trash back onto his tray before standing up.

 

El nods, mirroring him and getting up as well. She gives him a quick hug and promises to text him later before she makes her way over to get a refill of her root beer. Passing the table Stacy is sitting at, she suppresses her chuckle and tries to not look over at the older girl for too long. She has to remember to give Dustin a hard time about it later.

 

She’s getting comfy in her seat again, ready to take a giant bite of the last part of her burger so she can head to class early, but something distracts her. She’s mid-bite, her mouth practically covering the burger, when her eyes drift unknowingly down to her tray.

 

Just past where her burger had been resting on her plate was a small object that at this rate is starting to feel familiar. 

 

A small white sweetheart candy.

 

El sucks in her breath and looks around, but Will is nowhere to be seen. She thinks frustratedly to herself that she supposes he could be carrying some around. Valentine’s Day season does weird things to people and maybe things were advancing between him and that guy he had mentioned earlier. But it feels too weird for that to be it. Will isn’t that adventurous when it comes to flirting anyway. And she doubts the old woman who unceremoniously plopped the burger down on her tray had put it there, no matter how funny that visual was.

 

Trying to not groan too loudly, she plucks it off the tray and chucks it into her backpack.

 

This is getting ridiculous.

 

 

 

**Tuesday, 3:10 PM**

 

It’s early in the semester, so the library is exactly how El loves it. There’s barely a murmur of students, most of the desks empty still. The metronome of a clock ticking somewhere in the building adds to the bizarrely timeless feeling libraries have, that liminal space essence that El feels like she practically thrives off of. 

 

She had camped out at one of the round tables on the second floor. Her homework load wasn’t too strenuous and she had immediately made a beeline for the huge cushy leather seats. They were the perfect ones for curling up into a ball and doing some heavy textbook reading. With her papers strewn about the table, her playlist set up, she was ready to go.

 

Except for the fact that she needs to use the bathroom.

 

Letting out a huffy breath of frustration, she unfolds herself from the comfortable position she had put herself in and heaves her textbook onto the table in front of her. It always seemed to happen this way, just when you get comfortable, something dumb comes up like human needs or whatever.

 

When she plops back down into the seat a bit later, with a freshly filled water bottle as well since she might as well just make one whole trip out of it, she goes to grab her textbook again. 

 

And a sweetheart candy falls into her lap.

 

It’s actually getting absurd at this point and El has to clap a hand over her mouth to stop herself from yelling something that you’re not supposed to yell in a library (or in public really).

 

Staring up at her teasingly is a blue sweetheart and it’s practically winking at her.

 

She knows for a fact that she hadn’t placed it on her book.

 

Looking around furiously, El tries to figure out if she recognizes anyone around her, but it’s to no avail. The students around her look like a mix of bored upperclassmen and a couple tutors. No one she recognizes, which hopefully rules the idea out that a stranger had been the one to leave it. With her lips pursed, El brushes it off into her backpack to join the others so that she can resume her reading.

 

 

**Tuesday, 9:23 PM**

 

Pausing her session of binging on _As the World Turns_ (it was her third time rewatching it from start to finish), El forced herself out of bed to go brush her teeth. She knew if she didn’t do it now, she was absolutely just going to fall asleep watching TV again and no show was worth that funny feeling you got in your mouth in the morning after being too lazy to brush your teeth. So with that motivation, she dragged her body out of her fuzzy blankets and padded along to their shared bathroom.

 

Flipping the light on in the bathroom, she squinted from the sudden flooding of light after being in the dark for hours. Max was also watching TV and the two girls had been in their respective beds for hours now with their headphones in, occasionally giggling and having to explain to the other what was happening in their episode. But it also meant that as the afternoon had turned into the evening, their room had just continued to grow darker and darker until only the glow of their laptops had been visible. 

 

As her eyes adjusted, she reached for her toothbrush. 

 

But then she spotted it.

 

God. 

 

Fucking. 

 

Damn it.

 

She snatched up the small pink candy and stormed back into their bedroom, marching up to her roommate who was startled out of her glazed binge-watching look.

 

“Max, tell me what’s going on,” El demanded, thrusting the sweetheart under her best friend’s nose. “Why do I keep finding sweethearts everywhere?”

 

Doing her best to not blurt out the truth, Max swats aside El’s hand and puts on her best “confused” face that she can muster. It’s… barely passable.

 

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about. ‘Tis the season and all that, right?” 

 

She breezes through her denial, attempting to sound nonchalant about the whole thing but can’t help the higher-pitch that seeps into her voice at the end of her question. She’s also doing that nervous twitch thing she does where she frantically braids the ends of her hair, something that El easily spots and merely arches an eyebrow in response.

 

“I – I don’t know why you’d think I’d be doing this,” Max finally squeaks out.

 

El can’t pretend to be mad for long though and watching Max squirm under her interrogation makes her lips twitch into a smile.

 

“Because no one else knows my schedule that well, or you know, have that much access to my bedside table and bathroom,” El counters.

 

Max groaned, giving up the facade, and her shoulders slumped down. El couldn’t help giggling at her friend’s distress. There was a reason after all that El had totally swept Max in the Police Department’s Thanksgiving poker tournament that they had participated in. The girl had NO poker face at all. It was a miracle she hadn’t cracked already.

 

“Okay,” Max says, a smile growing on her face, “I’d like to first say that I’m impressed you haven’t eaten all of them yet.”

 

El begins to protest but Max quickly shoots her hand up to silence her.

 

“I’m not going to ruin anything, _buuuuttt_ you might want to play around with them. See if they spell anything out. And if they do, maybe use that as a guide for when you should shower and make sure some cute clothes are washed.”

 

She announces all of this in a rapid-fire manner, clearly trying her hardest to not explode with more information. El falls silent as she processes what she’s just heard and she can feel a giddiness rushing through her. This would absolutely explain why Mike hasn’t breathed a word about Valentine’s Day. And even though El considers herself to be pretty low key, she had briefly entertained the idea that they might do something. And from the sounds of it, Mike had clearly been thinking a couple steps ahead of her.

 

She looks down at the sweetheart in her hand and for the first time processes the little letter pressed into it. She’d been so distracted by their very existence that she had just assumed they all had the generic sayings on them.

 

It turns out they don’t. 

 

Her breath hitches and she looks up at Max, a smile radiating from her face. Max grins back at her, relieved that she can stop worrying about hiding now. Without saying a word, El spins around and rushes over to her desk and dives for her backpack, rummaging through it until she finds the small stash she had been collecting of the sweethearts.

 

Scattering them on the surface of her desk, she bends down and tries to figure out the puzzle. 

 

Max drifts over, climbing out of her bed and leaning against the side of the desk and watches as she hums and moves the small candies around. After a minute, El lets out a exclamation of triumph and stands back up, pushing her hands through her messy curls. In front of her on the desk the hearts spell out:

 

**C U FEB 14 7 PM**

 

El practically feels herself floating, bringing the concept of being on cloud nine to life in its most literal form possible. It was so nerdy, and absolutely something that Mike would come up with. She also bursts out laughing, the sound building up in her stomach before she’s full on having to support herself by gripping tightly to her desk chair.

 

It’s all so absurd and adorable and she’s really, really thankful she didn’t eat any of them.

 

* * *

 

**Friday, Valentine’s Day**

 

 

> ** MADMAX:  **
> 
> hey Hop, time for you to come down to the front
> 
>  
> 
> ** MADMAX: **
> 
> also you better look cute
> 
>  
> 
> ** MADMAX: **
> 
> it’s essentially 7 don’t make me come up there
> 
>  
> 
> ** EL: **
> 
> omfg I KNOW I’m coming down right now hang on a sec

 

Closing her messages and tossing her phone onto her bed next to her purse, El took one last look at herself in the mirror. She had spent a good part of the last hour anxiously changing up her outfit but she was pretty sure she had finally settled on the one.

 

El often preferred dressing comfortably over stylishly, but it was Valentine’s Day and there was no way she was passing up the chance to go all out.

 

She had picked a simple ivory colored dress that was overlaid in lace, and the small waist belt buckled with a small bow in the front. With the weather of Hawkins still on the border of winter, she had opted for a pair of white tights that had a delicate pattern of white polka dots, pulling on her favorite gray ankle boots over her feet. To top off the look, she had picked out a coat she rarely wore outside of the occasional formal instance, a baby pink overcoat that buttoned up to an oversized collar that helped protect her neck from any wind.

 

She was nervous that she overdressed, but as she did a little twirl in front of the mirror, she decided it was absolutely worth it. Also even if she was overdressed, it was Mike’s fault for deciding to be cute and do a candy puzzle versus telling her his plans. 

 

And she felt cute as hell.

 

With a nod of satisfaction at herself, she quickly applied one last layer of lipgloss and then quickly grabbed her bag so that she could make her way downstairs.

 

Every moment of agonizing in front of the mirror was worth it the minute she turns the corner and she sees Mike’s jaw drop. She practically misses Max letting out teasing whistle, she’s so caught up in the look that he’s giving her. Mike’s almost looking at her in wonder and she can’t help but feel her heart flutter at the sight of him in a suit. She knew he hated shopping for clothes but clearly at some point his mom had gotten him to stand still long enough to fit him with a new one. It’s cut cleanly and fits his lanky from perfectly and the phrase that El had seen once online about suits being just another form of lingerie is _absolutely true._

 

When it becomes obvious the two are just going to keep staring at each other, Max lets out a dramatic fake cough to get their attention.

 

Mike and El are startled out of their moment and look over to see Max’s pointed look, a matching blush forming on each of their faces. 

 

“Hey it’s all good, I’m used to you guys just giving each other heart-eyes all of the time,” Max says with a wave of her hand, pulling out a duffel bag out from behind her. 

 

“Here,” she says, handing it to a surprised-looking El. “I threw together some random crap for you, hopefully I got everything.”

 

Mike places a hand on El’s shoulder and she can practically feel the nerves coming off of him in waves.

 

“Only if you’re comfortable with staying over,” he said in an reassuring voice. “I took the jump and just had Max go ahead and put a bag together just in case, but you’re more than welcome to come back here after. I just thought it could be nice…” His voice trails off and El gives him a quick kiss on the cheek to assuage him.

 

“Definitely. I’d love to stay over,” she replies, giving him a soft nuzzle nose to nose. 

 

“Okay making out is one thing, but that’s sickeningly cute,” Max announces over the two, throwing her hand over her eyes and turning around.

 

El giggles and gives Mike one more kiss before tackling Max in a giant hug.

 

“Thanks for helping put this together,” she whispers, smacking an obnoxiously loud kiss on her friend’s cheek. Max pretends to wipe it off and throws her the bird, but there’s a giant smile on her face.

 

“Have fun tonight lovebirds, don’t do anything too crazy. Or if you do make sure to send me photos as evidence that you actually did something cool and I’ll bail you guys out if necessary,” she calls out with her wave goodbye as the two make it back out into the night.

 

* * *

 

Coming back from the meal, El feels herself practically skipping on the parking lot, Mike in tow. They’re still giggling about one of the absolutely ridiculous people at the restaurant they had just left, each taking turns mimicking the person’s over-the-top demands. 

 

Past that last bit of entertainment while they had waited for the check, the dinner had been lovely. Mike had taken her to a small Italian restaurant, even attempting to pull her chair out for her when she went to sit (it was ridiculously adorable and he tripped on the way back to his seat, which might have ruined the “gentleman” look he had been going for but it made El smile all the same). Over seconds of bread and what felt like bottomless bowls of pasta, they had talked about everything under the stars – and past them too, they briefly chatted about how exciting it was that Lucas was applying for an internship with NASA. 

 

El never ceased to be amazed by their ability to never run out of conversations, and with every topic she felt like she was unlocking more of herself and handing Mike the key. And likewise, with each confession he made or small side note that pulled on something personal, she felt like he was entrusting more and more of himself to her.

 

They had finally returned to campus though, reluctant to leave the warm glow of the restaurant where they had been in their own little world.

 

Though for anyone else, it was obvious that it was silly to worry about leaving that bubble because they left the restaurant. When they were together, they purely existed to each other. 

 

They’ve almost reached Mike’s dorm when El spots a group of students up ahead near the quad. She immediately recognizing them as one of Hawkins’  a cappella groups, their voices carrying through the night across the grass. They appear to have come out for the night to fittingly sing love songs to celebrate the holiday and some students occasionally have stopped to listen and cheer them on. 

 

“Oh Mike, let’s go dance,” El says breathlessly, spinning and grasping Mike’s hands.

 

Mike swallows nervously.

 

El knows he has two left feet, or practically no feet really, when it comes to dancing. But how can he say no to her?

 

So with a deep sigh and a gracious, if a bit awkward of a bow, Mike offers his hand to her and the two quickly make their way over to where the group is singing. Mike’s hands naturally fall onto her waist, holding her close to him as they sway. Slipping her hands up over his shoulders and around his neck, she pulled him in a little more and he leaned down, resting his forehead on hers as they slowly danced on the sidewalk.

 

It was easy to ignore the admiring and inquisitive stares from students passing by when he got to just stare deeply into her eyes, sparkling in the glowing street lamps.

 

Her lips are curved into a small smile and Mike swears that the whole world melts around them.

 

Before long, the breeze picks up and it’s soon to chilly in the evening for them to stay out. So no matter how romantic it is, they thank the performers and finish making their way back to Mike’s dorm.

 

It almost mirrors the night that when they first kissed and it’s almost amazing how much has already changed.

 

Tonight she insists that Mike picks the movie, after all Valentine’s Day can’t be _all_ about her and he ends up picking the original _Blade Runner_ , one of his favorite 80s sci-fi movies. While it doesn’t have quite the same level of campiness that some of his other favorites have, it pretty much grandfathered modern science fiction, futuristic movies.

 

And you can’t deny that the over dramatic synth music is amazing.

 

El is curling up underneath Mike’s outreached arm while he sets up the movie when her eyes fall on a spot near the boys’ TV stand. Shoved back by a pile of shoes and discarded homework, she spies what looks like large plastic bag filled with…

 

“Is that a giant bag of sweethearts?” She asks, turning to look up at Mike.

 

He groans, followed up by a chuckle as he face palms. 

 

“Yeah, it turns out if you order customized ones they don’t exactly just come in a certain amount. You have to order a shit ton of them,” he explains with a laugh.

 

El giggles and thinks to herself that thank god the two of them have a sweet tooth. She also imagines the amazing pranks she can play on Max as a way of getting her back, most excitedly imagining putting bunch of them in her baseball hat collection. Or maybe filling her pillowcase with them? It’s with those thoughts in her mind that El gives Mike a quick kiss on the cheek before getting more comfortable as the movie begins.

 

About an hour later there’s a quiet point in the movie, and that’s when Mike hears the soft snore coming from the figure next to him. He looks down and immediately feels himself develop a dopey smile at the image of a sleeping El beside him. He’s pretty sure he could stay there for hours, feeling her small form perfectly tucked alongside him with her back slowly expanding under his hand as she breathed. But he’s also not completely loving the tingling feeling he’s developing in his arm.

 

Careful to not scare her awake, he slowly pulls his arm out from around her and gently touches her shoulder.

 

“Hey, El, it’s probably more comfortable to sleep on a bed than me. You know, all these bones and stuff,” he teases gently. 

 

El lets out a snuffle as she twitches awake and looks up at him through half-lidded eyes and he’s pretty sure he actually swoons. She’s way too cute for own good. As she looks around and processes how long she had been asleep, the movie paused partway through, she looks back up at him with a timid smile.

 

“Sorry about that, I guess the week just caught up to me,” she says apologetically. 

 

Mike shakes his head, brushing off her apology.

 

“It’s totally fine,” he responds, tucking one of her curls behind her ear, “Let’s get some sleep.” 

 

They make their way to his bed and El is thankful for her sleepy state so that her nerves don’t completely take over. She’s fallen asleep on Mike before, and she knows they’re not going to do anything tonight since they’ve both talked about waiting, but the butterflies are still there regardless. There’s something about staying over at his place that feels both really big and also intimate. But they quickly become flutterings of anticipation as she curls herself up against him before he pulls the blankets over them.

 

She knows they haven’t been together for very long in retrospect, but she can’t help but sense the feeling of familiarity this has and a sudden pang of longing to fall asleep in his arms every night hits her.

 

Mike’s bed is warm and smells extra clean, and El can’t help but smile at the thought of him frantically washing his sheets before they came over. She wiggles deeper into his grasp, feeling him tighten his grip around her waist. Her sweatshirt (since that’s what it was at this rate, she definitely wore it more than he did) had ridden up slightly and two of his fingers had landed on her skin, resting there gently. It burns in the absolute best way possible. 

 

Her curls are tickling his chin and he can’t get enough of it. She faintly smells like some sort of floral scent and he still can’t get over that he pulled this night off so successfully. Who knew that he, Michael Wheeler, could be a romantic?

 

Sleep is beginning to take over both of them and he burrows himself deeper under his comforter, pulling El along with who simply responds with a hum of content.

 

“Happy Valentine’s Day El,” he murmurs, giving her hair one last brush-through with his hand.

 

“Happy Valentine’s Day Mike,” she whispers back.

 

There’s a lull as the two breathe deeply, bringing to completely succumb to sleep. Outside there’s a buzz of students making their way out for the evening, loud cheers and the occasional distant sound of music as cars drive by. The heat kicks on at one point and a soft whirring noise fills the room, the white noise further pushing the two to slumber.

 

It’s in his half-asleep state of mind that the words slip out of Mike’s mouth.

 

“I love you.”

 

The words have barely left his lips when all tiredness is immediately yanked from him, as his eyelids shoot open and he stares up into the dark at his ceiling. He’s completely frozen and only manages to open and close his mouth a couple times, gasping for air like a fish on land. 

 

_Shit shit shit shit shit shit._

 

What the hell did he just do? How did his brain not even process what he was saying?

 

He’s screwing up the courage from somewhere deep inside to apologize, or just do something to fix this, when he feels the soft feeling of El’s hand tightening on his t-shirt. Then there’s a gentle, if not incredibly sleepy, whisper of “I love you too.”

 

Mike isn’t sure he remembers how to breathe.

 

The warmth that spreads through him practically leaves him tingling and he has to fight every urge to not just turn into an 80’s rom-com and fist pump the air. Instead, he turns his face into El’s hair and hides his ridiculously large grin into her curls. Pure elation feels like its practically rolling off of him and he’s almost surprised she somehow doesn’t wake up from it, if that was even possible to feel that.

 

They’d probably need to talk about it in the morning when they’re more awake, but he knows deep in him that they’re both telling the truth. It’s barely into his spring semester of his sophomore year of college, and he knows that never in a million years would he have guessed this would be his life. That he’d be celebrating this ridiculous holiday with someone that he _loved_ and who _loved him back_.

 

That’s the last thought on Mike’s mind as he closes his eyes once more and allows himself to finally drift off to sleep. 

 

He was never going to forget this Valentine’s Day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yayayay I hope you enjoyed it! The sweetheart puzzle was inspired by a couple of non-romantic pranks my friends played on me in college involving coins and bagel bites. But of course, it’s Mike and Eleven so I had to pump up the fluff for it (even though I’m not the biggest V-Day fan you know these two would go all out). If you also hadn’t noticed, I’ve added a chapter limit and there will be one more chapter for this particular story! I had an idea for it and it feels like the right way to end it. Thank you so much for all of your support on this story, I don’t even have the words to describe how much everyone’s support has meant to me. I promise to keep up the fluffy goodness in other fics! Thanks for checking it out!


	6. It’s Graduation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We’re fast forwarding to Mike Wheeler’s senior year and El Hopper’s junior year. But it’s not the beginning of the school year. And with graduation comes endings and new beginnings. El finds herself reminiscing about all of the memories from the years gone by and trying to figure out that next step for her and Mike.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh so no excuses with this chapter. I’ve had half of it written for ages but just really struggled to be inspired to finish it. And then bang - the inspiration was back. It’s bittersweet ending it since this was my first fic back and I’m so thankful for the love I’ve received for it. Thank you so much to everyone that has taken the time to comment on it, I never would have continued it otherwise. Enjoy the chapter!!

 

The morning of Hawkins College’s graduation brought with it a sense of calm. A storm had hung around the edges of town the whole day before, threatening to ruin the outdoor ceremony and people anxiously waited to see what the weather would be the next day. But when the morning finally came, a clear sunrise and a freshness to the air replaced the gloomy clouds and everyone sighed with relief.

  
El Hopper dodged the leftover puddles on the brick sidewalks as she made her way across the north side of campus, precariously making sure to not ruin her new wedges that she had bought for the occasion.

 

Luckily for her, her on-campus apartment was only about five minutes away from her destination. 

 

A breeze ruffled her skirt around her legs as she turned the corner towards the outdoor stairs of the building, her hand securely holding her clutch tightly to her chest so she wouldn’t drop it in her haste. The sun was just in the process of rising, yellow rays streaming across the sky as a light blue took over the morning. 

 

It was really only because it was graduation day though that she was excited to be seeing the sunrise and to be up and out her bed at this hour.

 

Some things had changed since her freshman year – liking mornings was not one of them.

 

It was all worth it though when her banging on the door brought a half-dressed Mike Wheeler to the entrance of his apartment. 

 

He had apparently given up on his tie and it was hanging around his neck like a scarf. He was currently missing his belt and his shirt wasn’t buttoned all of the way up (the second best part of this entire look if El was honest). But the best part was his surprised, but excited smile when he saw who was outside his door.

 

“El! What are you doing here? It’s not even 7 AM yet.”

 

“I’m here to see you of course! We’re going out for breakfast. Before you have to meet up with all of the other seniors,” she explains excitedly.

 

He gets a laugh out of that and beckons her in.

 

“You’re crazy,” he says while finishing buttoning up his shirt.

 

“That’s why you love me!” El sings back, looking around the living room for what will be one of the last times.

 

She remembers the first day the boys were able to move in. It had been over the summer before their senior year and her and Max’s junior year. It had been a brutally humid July day, but the excitement of the four of them finally being able to live together had won out. With the promise of plenty of snacks and popsicles, they had convinced the two girls to help them get everything situated (it had definitely not been as easy as they thought, so Max and El made the boys make them dinner as well).

 

But by the end of the day they had successfully set up the apartment and spent the night playing video games and hanging out, no one wanting to bring up the topic of the upcoming school year.

 

Their initial fears had been pushed aside though by how awesome the school year ended up being. 

 

The fall had been filled with El insisting they make the most of their time there, going to every single home football game. Hawkins was hardly a contender in the college football world, but the crisp fall afternoons with the leaves falling and the crowd cheering made for the quintessential autumn days. 

 

Halloween had rolled around, she and Mike finally completing their long-awaited Han Solo and Princess Leia costumes. The party agreed that it was the best Halloween of their college experience, Dustin helping them go all out and setting up the boys’ apartment with a series of glowing lights and cobwebs (even some black lights in the hallways). The night after Max had set up a horror movie marathon for them and El is pretty sure she’ll never forgive her (it was perfect though).

 

This year’s January term had taken her and Mike to Europe on a three-week study abroad trip, and El knows that it will always be one of her favorite memories. She had learned that Belgian waffles are _actually_ the best, light snowfall and Mike’s curls are a perfect combination in the streets of Berlin, and there’s no such thing as too many pictures. Mike still keeps a selfie they took on her Polaroid camera in his wallet, Big Ben in London fuzzy behind them and El pressing a kiss to his cheek. 

 

But then when they had come home from the whirlwind trip, suddenly it was the spring semester. And everything became “the last time the party does [ _any type of activity they ended up doing_ ].” 

 

Things became about wrapping up classes, finalizing senior thesis papers. And El began to desperately grasp at these last months.

 

And now it was graduation day.

 

* * *

 

The walk over to Benny’s was quiet, the campus still waking up. Most of the underclassmen had left already for summer vacation, leaving behind the graduating seniors and the juniors who stayed to watch the big day. Mike and El passed a couple of sets of parents, some anxiously directing grandparents to their cars or and others excitedly buying sweatshirts at the college bookstore before their child was an official alumni.

 

El gives Mike a quick squeeze of his hand before letting go to open the door to Benny’s.

 

They entered into the coffeeshop, the soft ding from the bell alerting the owner to their presence.

 

“Hello!” Benny called out, making his way out of the kitchen with a fresh batch of croissants in hand to restock the glass display. “Big day right?” He asked, nodding towards Mike. 

 

Benny’s coffeeshop had become a haven of sorts for them ever since that initial day of meeting face to face, followed by their first date. While Mike rarely had to cover for Will (especially since starting their junior year Will was finally able to get paid as a teacher’s assistant for his favorite art professor), he had maintained a great relationship with Benny and he was always willing to help get them some extra pastries at the end of the day or make sure the coffee was extra hot for El. They’d studied for numerous finals in there when El finally needed to get out of the library, and as they walked in, she found herself nostalgic for those moments knowing that she wouldn’t have those study dates with Mike again after today. 

 

They get their usual order (El with the overly strong black coffee, Mike with a sugary, fun drink) and are about to head to sit down when Benny waves for them to pause.

 

With a wink, he pulls a small brown bag out from under the cash register.

 

“I had a feeling you might swing by,” was all he said before he passed the bag off.

 

Peering in, El saw two maple cinnamon scones. She gasped and looked up, nearly putting her hand over her heart in a dramatic move that would have actually felt genuine. They thanked him profusely for remembering their treat they got for special occasions (always with the memory of that first time meeting lingering in their minds), now finally making their way to the back to sit.

 

“So when you do you and Max leave again?” Mike asked, sliding into the chair across from El.

 

“June 12th! We’ll try to get a pretty good head start at the beginning of the trip, but then we might crash at a hotel in Arizona to get some time in the desert,” El explained. She dipped her scone in her coffee before continuing, “her dad said we can show up whenever so we figure we can check out some big ass cacti before heading to California.”

 

“You’re going to love California, I can’t believe you’ve never gone.”

 

“And you know we’re going to take so many polaroids now that Jonathan finally helped fix mine,” El added with a grin.

 

Mike pointed at her with a mock serious expression.

 

“You better send me one so that I have something to remember my girlfriend with while I’m in Austin.”

 

El began to pout at the reminder that Mike would be gone all summer. 

 

“Oh yeah, when does your internship start again?” 

 

“First week of June, but Nancy is coming down from New York to help get me set up there. And then I’ll get to spend all summer getting to work on some game concepts!”

 

Mike’s excitement bleeds over and El can’t help the smile on her face that matches his. She’d selfishly prefer him to stay all summer so that she can have time with him now that they won’t go to school together anymore, but it’s hard to be mad that he actually has the opportunity to break into the video game industry. 

 

“Brad, the guy who is going to be my supervisor, said he loved my podcast work and had checked out my concepts on that site I threw together. So if he was impressed with that, I hope I can really impress him while I’m there,” Mike was still saying, his eyes bright as he waved his arms about in his joy.

 

“I bet Holly is going to be excited to finally feel like an only child,” El said teasingly.

 

Mike groaned at that.

 

“Don’t even get me started. She’s somehow convinced she’ll get my room now that I’ll be out for the most part. As if I’d ever let that happen. I told Dustin that since he’ll be here all summer he better go in and check on it.”

 

Dustin was in fact going to stay there that summer, only leaving around the time that El and Max started up again since he too would be going back to school. Except this time it was for grad school where he would be studying biology.

 

Max was in a similar spot as El, with Lucas heading down to Florida for the summer to work with NASA in a program for recent graduates. Neither girl was excited about not having their boyfriends there, but they were incredibly thankful that Dustin and Will would still be there and the three of them had vowed to see every summer blockbuster movie at its midnight showing. Will was still in flux, waiting to hear from the art school in New York where he could take classes but also help teach art in a partnership program.

 

They continued to chat for a little bit. Jokes about Mike’s family that had come into town for graduation, the fact that Hopper was going to drive in to watch (he and Mike had developed quite the odd friendship over the years). They talked about the lunch party that had been scheduled for afterwards and how Mrs. Sinclair had gone all out in planning it, pretty much guaranteeing it was going to go off without a hitch. 

 

Eventually though, looking down at his watch, Mike let out a resigned groan.

 

“I should probably get back soon so I can grab my cap and gown. I still can’t believe this is going to be real,” he said, shaking his head at the reality of being done with college.

 

He’s about to stand up, sort of gathering up his wallet and keys, and El feels herself begin to panic a little. 

 

“Wait!” 

 

She doesn’t mean to shout it but her mouth is working faster than her brain. Mike quickly readjusts himself so that he’s properly seated and facing her, looking at her expectantly after her outburst. There’s a moment when she feels herself hesitate. 

 

But then the statement slipped out of her mouth before she even fully decided to say it.

 

“Let’s get married.”

 

She had been thinking about it for a while now, more than she maybe even had wanted to admit to herself. But it felt _right_ and it felt right to say it _now_. 

 

They’d been together now for two and a half years (and if Facebook told her anything that wasn’t even as long as most people) but it didn’t feel like time mattered to them. Everything with him was new and exciting, but also he felt like home. The evenings she spent at his place where they watched her favorite soap operas while he worked on coding homework felt _right_. Waking up to his messy bedhead and making breakfast together. The way he had been there for her when she went through the process of finding her birth mother and the soul searching that came with that. Being there with him during his parents’ divorce, being the strength he needed while he experienced every emotion that he had been oppressing during their fights. 

 

They had seen each other at their worst and best already and come out stronger for it.

 

Mike however wasn’t saying anything, staring at her with widened eyes of surprise. El ducked her head, trying to not pick at her freshly painted nails out of anxiousness.

 

“I know it seems sudden, I mean I don’t even have a ring or anything but ––”

 

“Yes.”

 

His answer stops El mid-ramble and she looks up at him, unable to fight the wave of emotion in her heart and the tears pricking her eyes.

 

“Yes…?”

 

Mike smiles, his own eyes shining and he reaches forward and grasps El’s hands across the table. His hands are warm and dry, with marks and lines that El has memorized over the years. 

 

“Yes. And I have to admit, you stole my thunder there,” he said a bit sheepishly.

 

El’s eyes widened in shock and Mike laughed nervously.

 

“I don’t have a ring either, don’t worry. But I don’t know, it’s been on the back of my mind but you know me. I was just so nervous I couldn’t figure out the right time.”

 

“Sometimes you just have to make it the right time,” El responded warming, her heart nearly bursting out of her chest at everything happening.

 

They did have to get through today first though and get diploma in Mike’s hand, so they did regretfully let go of each other just long enough to wave goodbye to Benny and go back outside.

 

As they made their way back outside to head back to the guys’ apartment, El wrapped her arm around Mike’s waist and he slung his across her shoulders. While the sadness of graduation was still there, she felt a giddiness that felt like it had the power to make her float the whole way. 

 

It had been years since those first laptop problems, when she had first fallen for the mysterious voice on the phone. She still teased Mike about that too, especially when she would read tweets from girls commenting about his D&D podcast and saying similar sentiments. But he’d quiet her with a kiss and remind her that his voice and his heart were hers, no matter how many other people loved his voice. 

 

Oh how things had changed since that day when she had gone in to drop her laptop off. How perfectly the stars had aligned (a phrasing that Max always rolled her eyes at when El voiced it) that it not just the night that Mike had been working at the tech center, but then had also covered Will’s shift. That had been one of El’s motives behind her gut-decision to bring up marriage this morning. To bring it full circle to where they had first met. When she had first heard his voice in person.

 

And one day, maybe soon or maybe years down the line, she’d get to hear that voice say “I do.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of this drew on my experiences as a junior and watching my friends graduate, and I hope I accurately captured the nostalgia that comes with those last memories (I was lucky enough that my boyfriend and I graduated together). 
> 
> Again, thank you SO much for all of the support. The comments on the first chapter are what pushed me to keep writing not only this story, but in general as well! Thank you for coming on this little, fluffy journey of two of our favorite characters! Here’s to new fluffy fics now that this one is set! Thanks again and I hope you liked this final chapter!


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